THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  Jo  Surer-ling 


anto  Stories  ftp  33ret  |)arte. 


THE    LUCK   OF    ROARING    CAMP,    AND   OTHER    STORIES. 
i6mo,  $1.25.     In  Riverside  Aldine  Series,  $1.00. 

MRS.  SKAGGS'S  HUSBANDS,  AND  OTHER  SKETCHES. 
TA'LES'  OF  THE  ARGONAUTS,  AND  OTHER  SKETCHES. 

i6mo,  $1.25. 

THANKFUL    BLOSSOM.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
TWO    MEN    OF    SANDY    BAR.     A  Play.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
THE    STORY  OF  A   MINE.      i8mo,  $1.00. 
DRIFT    FROM    TWO    SHORES.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
THE   TWINS   OF    TABLE     MOUNTAIN,    AND    OTHER    STO 
RIES.     iSmo,  $1.00. 
FLIP,  AND  FOUND  AT  BLAZING   STAR.     Two  Stories.     i8mo, 

$1.00. 

IN    THE    CARQUINEZ    WOODS.     i8mo.Ji.oo. 
ON  THE  FRONTIER.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
BY    SHORE   AND    SEDGE.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
MARUJA.     A  Novel.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
SNOW-BOUND  AT   EAGLE'S.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
A    MILLIONAIRE    OF    ROUGH-AND-READY,     AND    DEVIL'S 

FORD.     181110,  $1.00. 

A  WAIF   OF   THE    PLAINS.     i8mo,  $1.00. 

A    PHYLLIS   OF   THE    SIERRAS,    AND    DRIFT    FROM    RED 
WOOD  CAMP.     i8mo,  $1.00. 

THE    ARGONAUTS    OF    NORTH     LIBERTY.     i8mo,  $1.00. 
THE    CRUSADE    OF    THE    EXCELSIOR.      Illustrated.      i6mo, 

$1.25  ;  paper,  50  cents. 
CRESSY.  i6mo,  $1.25. 
THE  HERITAGE  OF  DEDLOW  MARSH,  AND  OTHER  TALES. 

i6mo,  $1.25. 
A  WARD   OF  THE   GOLDEN    GATE.      i6mo,  $1.25;   paper,  50 

cents. 
A  SAPPHO   OF  GREEN    SPRINGS,  AND    OTHER    STORIES. 

i6mo,  $1.25  ;  paper,  50  cents. 

A  FIRST    FAMILY   OF   TASAJARA.     i6tno,  $1.25. 
COLONEL    STARBOTTLE'S     CLIENT,    AND    SOME    OTHER 

PEOPLE.     i6mo,  $1.25. 

SUSY.     A  Story  of  the  Plains.      i6mo,  fi. 25  ;  paper,  50  cents. 
SALLY   DOWS,   AND    OTHER    STORIES.     i6mo,  $1.25. 
A  PROTEGEE  OF  JACK  HAMLIN'S,  AND  OTHER  STORIES. 

i6mo,  $1.25. 
THE   BELL-RINGER  OF   ANGEL'S,   AND  OTHER   STORIES. 

i6mo,  $1-25. 

CLARENCE.     i6mo,  $1.25;  paper,  50  cents. 
IN  A  HOLLOW  OF   THE    HILLS.     i6mo,  $1.25. 
BARKER'S    LUCK,    AND    OTHER    STORIES.     i6mo,  $1.25. 
THREE  PARTNERS;  OR,  THE  BIG  STRIKE  ON  HEAVY-TREE 

HILL.     i6mo,  $1.25. 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY, 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK. 


THREE    PARTNERS 


OR 


THE   BIG   STRIKE   ON   HEAVY  TREE   HILL 


BY 


BRET    HARTE 


BOSTON    AND    NEW    YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

s,  Cambnb0e 


COPYRIGHT,  1897 

BY  BRET  HARTE 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


THE  RIVERSIDE   PRESS,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS.,  U.  S.  A. 

ELECTROTYPED   AND    PRINTED    BY 

H.  O.  HOUGHTON   &  CO. 


THREE  PARTNERS. 


PROLOGUE. 

THE  sun  was  going  down  on  the  Black 
Spur  Range.  The  red  light  it  had  kindled 
there  was  still  eating  its  way  along  the  ser 
ried  crest,  showing  through  gaps  in  the 
ranks  of  pines,  etching  out  the  interstices  of 
broken  boughs,  fading  away  and  then  flash 
ing  suddenly  out  again  like  sparks  in  burnt- 
up  paper.  Then  the  night  wind  swept 
down  the  whole  mountain  side,  and  began 
its  usual  struggle  with  the  shadows  upclimb- 
ing  from  the  valley,  only  to  lose  itself  in  the 
end  and  be  absorbed  in  the  all-conquering 
darkness.  Yet  for  some  time  the  pines  on 
the  long  slope  of  Heavy  Tree  Hill  mur 
mured  and  protested  with  swaying  arms ; 
but  as  the  shadows  stole  upwards,  and  cabin 
after  cabin  and  tunnel  after  tunnel  were 
swallowed  up,  a  complete  silence  followed. 


857332 


2  THREE  FASTNESS. 

Only  the  sky  remained  visible  —  a  vast  con 
cave  mirror  of  dull  steel,  in  which  the  stars 
did  not  seem  to  be  set,  but  only  reflected. 

A  single  cabin  door  on  the  crest  of  Heavy 
Tree  Hill  had  remained  open  to  the  wind 
and  darkness.  Then  it  was  slowly  shut  by 
an  invisible  figure,  afterwards  revealed  by 
the  embers  of  the  fire  it  was  stirring.  At 
first  only  this  figure  brooding  over  the 
hearth  was  shown,  but  as  the  flames  leaped 
up,  two  other  figures  could  be  seen  sitting 
motionless  before  it.  When  the  door  was 
shut,  they  acknowledged  that  interruption 
by  slightly  changing  their  position  ;  the  one 
who  had  risen  to  shut  the  door  sank  back 
into  an  invisible  seat,  but  the  attitude  of 
each  man  was  one  of  profound  reflection  or 
reserve,  and  apparently  upon  some  common 
subject  which  made  them  respect  each  other's 
silence.  However,  this  was  at  last  broken 
by  a  laugh.  It  was  a  boyish  laugh,  and 
came  from  the  youngest  of  the  party.  The 
two  others  turned  their  profiles  and  glanced 
inquiringly  towards  him,  but  did  not  speak. 

"  I  was  thinking,"  he  began  in  apologetic 
explanation,  "  how  mighty  queer  it  was  that 
while  we  were  working  like  niggers  on  grub 


THESE  PARTNERS.  3 

wages,  without  the  ghost  of  a  chance  of 
making  a  strike,  how  we  used  to  sit  here, 
night  after  night,  and  flapdoodle  and  specu 
late  about  what  we  'd  do  if  we  ever  did 
make  one  ;  and  now,  Great  Scott !  that  we 
have  made  it,  and  are  just  wallowing  in  gold, 
here  we  are  sitting  as  glum  and  silent  as  if 
we  'd  had  a  washout !  Why,  Lord !  I  re 
member  one  night  —  not  so  long  ago,  either 
—  that  you  two  quarreled  over  the  swell 
hotel  you  were  going  to  stop  at  in  'Frisco, 
and  whether  you  would  n't  strike  straight 
out  for  London  and  Rome  and  Paris,  or 
go  away  to  Japan  and  China  and  round  by 
India  and  the  Red  Sea." 

"  No,  we  did  n't  quarrel  over  it,"  said  one 
of  the  figures  gently ;  "  there  was  only  a 
little  discussion." 

"  Yes,  but  you  did,  though,"  returned  the 
young  fellow  mischievously,  "and  you  told 
Stacy,  there,  that  we  'd  better  learn  some 
thing  of  the  world  before  we  tried  to  buy  it 
or  even  hire  it,  and  that  it  was  just  as  well 
to  get  the  hayseed  out  of  our  hair  and  the 
slumgullion  off  our  boots  before  we  mixed  in 
polite  society." 

"  Well,  I   don't   see  what 's   the  matter 


4  THREE  PARTNERS. 

with  that  sentiment  now,"  returned  the  sec 
ond  speaker  good-humo redly  ;  "  only,"  he 
added  gravely,  "we  didn't  quarrel — God 
forbid !  " 

There  was  something  in  the  speaker's 
tone  which  seemed  to  touch  a  common  chord 
in  their  natures,  and  this  was  voiced  by 
Barker  with  sudden  and  almost  pathetic 
earnestness.  "  I  tell  you  what,  boys,  we 
ought  to  swear  here  to-night  to  always  stand 
by  each  other  —  in  luck  and  out  of  it !  We 
ought  to  hold  ourselves  always  at  each  other's 
call.  We  ought  to  have  a  kind  of  pass 
word  or  signal,  you  know,  by  which  we 
could  summon  each  other  at  any  time  from 
any  quarter  of  the  globe  !  " 

"  Come  off  the  roof,  Barker,"  murmured 
Stacy,  without  lifting  his  eyes  from  the  fire. 
But  Demorest  smiled  and  glanced  tolerantly 
at  the  younger  man. 

"Yes,  but  look  here,  Stacy,"  continued 
Barker,  "  comrades  like  us,  in  the  old  days, 
used  to  do  that  in  times  of  trouble  and 
adventures.  Why  should  n't  we  do  it  in  our 
luck?" 

"  There 's  a  good  deal  in  that,  Barker 
boy,"  said  Demorest,  "  though,  as  a  general 


THESE  PAETNEES.  5 

thing,  passwords  butter  no  parsnips,  and  the 
ordinary,  every-day,  single  yelp  from  a  wolf 
brings  the  whole  pack  together  for  business 
about  as  quick  as  a  password.  But  you 
cling  to  that  sentiment,  and  put  it  away 
with  your  gold-dust  in  your  belt." 

"  What  I  like  about  Barker  is  his  com- 
modiousness,"  said  Stacy.  "  Here  he  is,  the 
only  man  among  us  that  has  his  future 
fixed  and  his  preemption  lines  laid  out  and 
registered.  He's  already  got  a  girl  that 
he  's  going  to  marry  and  settle  down  with 
on  the  strength  of  his  luck.  And  I  'd  like 
to  know  what  Kitty  Carter,  when  she 's  Mrs. 
Barker,  would  say  to  her  husband  being 
signaled  for  from  Asia  or  Africa.  I  don't 
seem  to  see  her  tumbling  to  any  password. 
And  when  he  and  she  go  into  a  new  part 
nership,  I  reckon  she  '11  let  the  old  one 
slide." 

"  That 's  just  where  you  're  wrong  !  "  said 
Barker,  with  quickly  rising  color.  "  She  's 
the  sweetest  girl  in  the  world,  and  she  'd  be 
sure  to  understand  our  feelings.  Why,  she 
thinks  everything  of  you  two  ;  she  was  just 
eager  for  you  to  get  this  claim,  which  has 
put  us  where  we  are,  when  I  held  back,  and 


6  THEEE  PAETNEES. 

if  it  had  n't  been  for  her,  by  Jove !  we 
would  n't  have  had  it." 

"That  was  only  because  she  cared  for 
you"  returned  Stacy,  with  a  half-yawn ; 
"  and  now  that  you  've  got  your  share  she 
is  n't  going  to  take  a  breathless  interest  in 
us.  And,  by  the  way,  I  'd  rather  you  'd 
remind  us  that  we  owe  our  luck  to  her  than 
that  she  should  ever  remind  you  of  it." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  said  Barker 
quickly.  But  Demorest  here  rose  lazily, 
and,  throwing  a  gigantic  shadow  on  the 
wall,  stood  between  the  two  with  his  back 
to  the  fire.  "  He  means,"  he  said  slowly, 
"  that  you  're  talking  rot,  and  so  is  he. 
However,  as  yours  comes  from  the  heart  and 
his  from  the  head,  I  prefer  yours.  But 
you  're  both  making  me  tired.  Let 's  have 
a  fresh  deal." 

Nobody  ever  dreamed  of  contradicting 
Demorest.  Nevertheless,  Barker  persisted 
eagerly :  "  But  is  n't  it  better  for  us  to  look 
at  this  cheerfully  and  happily  all  round? 
There  's  nothing  criminal  in  our  having 
made  a  strike !  It  seems  to  me,  boys,  that 
of  all  ways  of  making  money  it 's  the 
squarest  and  most  level ;  nobody  is  the 


THEEE  PABTNEES.  7 

poorer  for  it ;  our  luck  brings  no  misfortune 
to  others.  The  gold  was  put  there  ages  ago 
for  anybody  to  find ;  we  found  it.  It  has  n't 
been  tarnished  by  man's  touch  before.  I 
don't  know  how  it  strikes  you,  boys,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  of  all  gifts  that  are  going 
it  is  the  straightest.  For  whether  we  de 
serve  it  or  not,  it  comes  to  us  first-hand  — 
from  God !  " 

The  two  men  glanced  quickly  at  the 
speaker,  whose  face  flushed  and  then  smiled 
embarrassedly  as  if  ashamed  of  the  enthusi 
asm  into  which  he  had  been  betrayed.  But 
Demorest  did  not  smile,  and  Stacy's  eyes 
shone  in  the  firelight  as  he  said  languidly, 
"  I  never  heard  that  prospecting  was  a  reli 
gious  occupation  before.  But  I  should  n't 
wonder  if  you  're  right,  Barker  boy.  So 
let 's  liquor  up." 

Nevertheless  he  did  not  move,  nor  did  the 
others.  The  fire  leaped  higher,  bringing 
out  the  rude  rafters  and  sternly  economic 
details  of  the  rough  cabin,  and  making  the 
occupants  in  their  seats  before  the  fire  look 
gigantic  by  contrast. 

"  Who  shut  the  door  ?  "  said  Demorest 
after  a  pause. 


8  THEEE  PARTNERS. 

"  I  did,"  said  Barker.  "  I  reckoned  it 
was  getting  cold." 

"  Better  open  it  again,  now  that  the  fire  's 
blazing.  It  will  light  the  way  if  any  of  the 
men  from  below  want  to  drop  in  this  even- 
ing." 

Stacy  stared  at  his  companion.  "  I 
thought  that  it  was  understood  that  we  were 
giving  them  that  dinner  at  Boomville  to 
morrow  night,  so  that  we  might  have  the 
last  evening  here  by  ourselves  in  peace  and 
quietness  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  if  any  one  did  want  to  come  it 
would  seem  churlish  to  shut  him  out,"  said 
Demorest. 

"  I  reckon  you  're  feeling  very  much  as  I 
am,"  said  Stacy,  "  that  this  good  fortune  is 
rather  crowding  to  us  three  alone.  For  my 
self,  I  know,"  he  continued,  with  a  back 
ward  glance  towards  a  blanketed,  covered 
pile  in  the  corner  of  the  cabin,  "  that  I  feel 
rather  oppressed  by  —  by  —  its  specific 
gravity,  I  calculate  —  and  sort  of  crampy 
and  twitchy  in  the  legs,  as  if  I  ought  to 
'  lite  '  out  and  do  something,  and  yet  it  holds 
me  here.  All  the  same,  I  doubt  if  anybody 
will  come  up  —  except  from  curiosity.  Our 


THREE  PARTNERS. 

luck  has  made  them  rather  sore  down  the 
hill,  for  all  they  're  coming  to  the  dinner 
to-morrow." 

"  That 's  only  human  nature,"  said  De- 
morest. 

"  But,"  said  Barker  eagerly,  "  what  does 
it  mean  ?  Why,  only  this  afternoon,  when 
I  was  passing  the  '  Old  Kentuck '  tunnel, 
where  those  Marshalls  have  been  grubbing 
along  for  four  years  without  making  a  single 
strike,  I  felt  ashamed  to  look  at  them,  and 
as  they  barely  nodded  to  me  I  slinked  by 
as  if  I  had  done  them  an  injury.  I  don't 
understand  it." 

"  It  somehow  does  not  seem  to  square 
with  this  '  gift  of  God '  idea  of  yours,  does 
it  ?  "  said  Stacy.  "  But  we  '11  open  the  door 
and  give  them  a  show." 

As  he  did  so  it  seemed  as  if  the  night 
were  their  only  guest,  and  had  been  waiting 
on  the  threshold  to  now  enter  bodily  and 
pervade  all  things  with  its  presence.  With 
that  cool,  fragrant  inflow  of  air  they  breathed 
freely.  The  red  edge  had  gone  from  Black 
Spur,  but  it  was  even  more  clearly  defined 
against  the  sky  in  its  towering  blackness. 
The  sky  itself  had  grown  lighter,  although 


10  THESE  PARTNERS. 

the  stars  still  seemed  mere  reflections  of  the 
solitary  pin-points  of  light  scattered  along 
the  concave  valley  below.  Mingling  with 
the  cooler,  restful  air  of  the  summit,  yet 
penetratingly  distinct  from  it,  arose  the 
stimulating  breath  of  the  pines  below,  still 
hot  and  panting  from  the  day-long  sun. 
The  silence  was  intense.  The  far-off  bark 
ing  of  a  dog  on  the  invisible  river-bar  nearly 
a  mile  beneath  them  came  to  them  like  a 
sound  in  a  dream.  They  had  risen,  and, 
standing  in  the  doorway,  by  common  con 
sent  turned  their  faces  to  the  east.  It  was 
the  frequent  attitude  of  the  home-remember 
ing  miner,  and  it  gave  him  the  crowning 
glory  of  the  view.  For,  beyond  the  pine- 
hearsed  summits,  rarely  seen  except  against 
the  evening  sky,  lay  a  thin,  white  cloud  like  a 
dropped  portion  of  the  Milky  Way.  Faint 
with  an  indescribable  pallor,  remote  yet  dis 
tinct  enough  to  assert  itself  above  and  be 
yond  all  surrounding  objects,  it  was  always 
there.  It  was  the  snow-line  of  the  Sierras. 
They  turned  away  and  silently  reseated 
themselves,  the  same  thought  in  the  minds 
of  each.  Here  was  something  they  could 
not  take  away,  something  to  be  left  for- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  11 

ever  and  irretrievably  behind,  —  left  with 
the  healthy  life  they  had  been  leading,  the 
cheerful  endeavor,  the  undying  hopefulness 
which  it  had  fostered  and  blessed.  Was 
what  they  were  taking  away  worth  it  ?  And 
oddly  enough,  frank  and  outspoken  as  they 
had  always  been  to  each  other,  that  common 
thought  remained  unuttered.  Even  Barker 
was  silent ;  perhaps  he  was  also  thinking  of 
Kitty. 

Suddenly  two  figures  appeared  in  the  very 
doorway  of  the  cabin.  The  effect  was  star 
tling  upon  the  partners,  who  had  only  just 
reseated  themselves,  and  for  a  moment  they 
had  forgotten  that  the  narrow  band  of  light 
which  shot  forth  from  the  open  door  ren 
dered  the  darkness  on  either  side  of  it  more 
impenetrable,  and  that  out  of  this  darkness, 
although  themselves  guided  by  the  light,  the 
figures  had  just  emerged.  Yet  one  was 
familiar  enough.  It  was  the  Hill  drunkard, 
Dick  Hall,  or,  as  he  was  called,  "  Whiskey 
Dick,"  or,  indicated  still  more  succinctly  by 
the  Hill  humorists,  "  Alky  Hall." 

Everybody  had  seen  that  sodden,  puffy, 
but  good-humored  face  ;  everybody  had  felt 
the  fiery  exhalations  of  that  enormous  red 


12  THREE  PARTNERS. 

beard,  which  always  seemed  to  be  kept  in  a 
state  of  moist,  unkempt  luxuriance  by  liquor ; 
everybody  knew  the  absurd  dignity  of  man 
ner  and  attempted  precision  of  statement 
with  which  he  was  wont  to  disguise  his  fre 
quent  excesses.  Very  few,  however,  knew, 
or  cared  to  know,  the  pathetic  weariness  and 
chilling  horror  that  sometimes  looked  out  of 
those  bloodshot  eyes. 

He  was  evidently  equally  unprepared  for 
the  three  silent  seated  figures  before  the 
door,  and  for  a  moment  looked  at  them 
blankly  with  the  doubts  of  a  frequently  de 
ceived  perception.  Was  he  sure  that  they 
were  quite  real  ?  He  had  not  dared  to  look 
at  his  companion  for  verification,  but  smiled 
vaguely. 

"  Good-evening,"  said  Demorest  plea 
santly. 

Whiskey  Dick's  face  brightened.  "  Good- 
evenin',  good-evenin'  yourselves,  boys  —  and 
see  how  you  like  it !  Lemme  interdrush 
my  ole  frien'  William  J.  Steptoe,  of  Red 
Gulch.  Stepsho  —  Steptoe  —  is  shtay — 
ish  stay —  He  stopped,  hiccupped,  waved 
his  hand  gravely,  and  with  an  air  of  re 
proachful  dignity  concluded,  "  sojourning  for 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  13 

the  present  on  the  Bar.  We  wish  to  offer 
our  congrashulashen  and  felish —  felish —  " 
He  paused  again,  and,  leaning  against  the 
door-post,  added  severely,  "  — itations." 

His  companion,  however,  laughed  coarsely, 
and,  pushing  past  Dick,  entered  the  cabin. 
He  was  a  short,  powerful  man,  with  a  closely 
cropped  crust  of  beard  and  hair  that  seemed 
to  adhere  to  his  round  head  like  moss  or 
lichen.  He  cast  a  glance  —  furtive  rather 
than  curious  —  around  the  cabin,  and  said, 
with  a  familiarity  that  had  not  even  good 
humor  to  excuse  it,  "  So  you  're  the  gay  ga 
loots  who  've  made  the  big  strike  ?  Thought 
I  'd  meander  up  the  Hill  with  this  old  bloat 
Alky,  and  drop  in  to  see  the  show.  And 
here  you  are,  feeling  your  oats,  eh  ?  and  not 
caring  any  particular  G — d  d — n  if  school 
keeps  or  not." 

"  Show  Mr.  Steptoe  —  the  whiskey,"  said 
Demorest  to  Stacy.  Then  quietly  addressing 
Dick,  but  ignoring  Steptoe  as  completely  as 
Steptoe  had  ignored  his  unfortunate  com 
panion,  he  said,  "You  quite  startled  us  at 
first.  We  did  not  see  you  come  up  the 
trail." 

"  No.     We  came  up   the  back  trail  to 


14  THREE  PARTNERS. 

please  Steptoe,  who  wanted  to  see  round  the 
cabin,"  said  Dick,  glancing  nervously  yet 
with  a  forced  indifference  towards  the  whis 
key  which  Stacy  was  offering  to  the  stranger. 

"  What  yer  gettiii'  off  there  ?  "  said  Step- 
toe,  facing  Dick  almost  brutally.  "  You 
know  your  tangled  legs  wouldn't  take  you 
straight  up  the  trail,  and  you  had  to  make 
a  circumbendibus.  Gosh !  if  you  had  n't 
scented  this  licker  at  the  top  you'd  have 
never  found  it." 

"  No  matter  !  I  'm  glad  you  did  find  it, 
Dick,"  said  Demorest,  "  and  I  hope  you  '11 
find  the  liquor  good  enough  to  pay  you  for 
the  trouble." 

Barker  stared  at  Demorest.  This  extraor 
dinary  tolerance  of  the  drunkard  was  some 
thing  new  hi  his  partner.  But  at  a  glance 
from  Demorest  he  led  Dick  to  the  demijohn 
and  tin  cup  which  stood  on  a  table  in  the 
corner.  And  in  another  moment  Dick  had 
forgotten  his  companion's  rudeness. 

Demorest  remained  by  the  door,  looking 
out  into  the  darkness. 

"Well,"  said  Steptoe,  putting  down  his 
emptied  cup,  "  trot  out  your  strike.  I 
reckon  our  eyes  are  strong  enough  to  bear 


THESE  PARTNERS.  15 

it  now."  Stacy  drew  the  blanket  from  the 
vague  pile  that  stood  in  the  corner,  and 
discovered  a  deep  tin  prospecting-pan.  It 
was  heaped  with  several  large  fragments 
of  quartz.  At  first  the  marble  whiteness 
of  the  quartz  and  the  glittering  crystals  of 
mica  in  its  veins  were  the  most  noticeable, 
but  as  they  drew  closer  they  could  see  the 
dull  yellow  of  gold  filling  the  decomposed 
and  honeycombed  portion  of  the  rock  as  if 
still  liquid  and  molten.  The  eyes  of  the 
party  sparkled  like  the  mica  —  even  those 
of  Barker  and  Stacy,  who  were  already  fa 
miliar  with  the  treasure. 

"  Which  is  the  richest  chunk  ? "  asked 
Steptoe  in  a  thickening  voice. 

Stacy  pointed  it  out. 

"  Why,  it 's  smaller  than  the  others." 

"  Heft  it  in  your  hand,"  said  Barker, 
with  boyish  enthusiasm. 

The  short,  thick  fingers  of  Steptoe  grasped 
it  with  a  certain  aquiline  suggestion ;  his 
whole  arm  strained  over  it  until  his  face 
grew  purple,  but  he  could  not  lift  it. 

"  Thar  useter  be  a  little  game  in  the 
'Frisco  Mint,"  said  Dick,  restored  to  fluency 
by  his  liquor,  "  when  thar  war  ladies  visit 


16  THREE  PARTNERS. 

ing  it,  and  that  was  to  offer  to  give  'em  any 
of  those  little  boxes  of  gold  coin,  that  con 
tained  five  thousand  dollars,  ef  they  would 
kindly  lift  it  from  the  counter  and  take  it 
away  !  It  was  n't  no  bigger  than  one  of 
these  chunks ;  but  Jimmy !  you  oughter 
have  seed  them  gals  grip  and  heave  on  it, 
and  then  hev  to  give  it  up !  You  see  they 
didn't  know  anything  about  the  paci — 
(hie)  the  speshif—  He  stopped  with 
great  dignity,  and  added  with  painful  preci 
sion,  "  the  specific  gravity  of  gold." 

"  Dry  up  !  "  said  Step  toe  roughly.  Then 
turning  to  Stacy  he  said  abruptly,  "  But 
where  's  the  rest  of  it  ?  You  've  got  more 
than  that." 

"  We  sent  it  to  Boomville  this  morning. 
You  see  we  've  sold  out  our  claim  to  a  com 
pany  who  take  it  up  to-morrow,  and  put  up 
a  mill  and  stamps.  In  fact,  it 's  under  their 
charge  now.  They've  got  a  gang  of  men 
on  the  claim  already." 

"  And  what  mout  ye  hev  got  for  it,  if  it 's 
a  fair  question  ?  "  said  Steptoe,  with  a  forced 
smile. 

Stacy  smiled  also.  "  I  don't  know  that 
it 's  a  business  question,"  he  said. 


THREE  PAETNERS.  17 

"  Five  hundred  thousand  dollars,"  said 
Demorest  abruptly  from  the  doorway,  "  and 
a  treble  interest." 

The  eyes  of  the  two  men  met.  There 
was  no  mistaking  the  dull  fire  of  envy  in 
Steptoe's  glance,  but  Demorest  received  it 
with  a  certain  cold  curiosity,  and  turned 
away  as  the  sound  of  arriving  voices  came 
from  without. 

"  Five  hundred  thousand  's  a  big  figger," 
said  Steptoe,  with  a  coarse  laugh,  "  and  I 
don't  wonder  it  makes  you  feel  so  d — d 
sassy.  But  it  was  a  fair  question." 

Unfortunately  it  here  occurred  to  the 
whiskey-stimulated  brain  of  Dick  that  the 
friend  he  had  introduced  was  being  treated 
with  scant  courtesy,  and  he  forgot  his  own 
treatment  by  Steptoe.  Leaning  against  the 
wall  he  waved  a  dignified  rebuke.  "  I  'm 
sashified  my  ole  frien'  is  akshuated  by  only 
businesh  principles."  He  paused,  recol 
lected  himself,  and  added  with  great  preci 
sion  :  "  When  I  say  he  himself  has  a  valu 
able  claim  in  Red  Gulch,  and  to  my  shertain 
knowledge  has  received  offers  —  I  have  said 
enough." 

The  laugh   that   broke   from  Stacy  and 


18  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Barker,  to  whom  the  infelicitous  reputation 
of  Red  Gulch  was  notorious,  did  not  allay 
Steptoe's  irritation.  He  darted  a  vindictive 
glance  at  the  unfortunate  Dick,  but  joined 
in  the  laugh.  "  And  what  was  ye  goin'  to 
do  with  that  ? "  he  said,  pointing  to  the 
treasure. 

"  Oh,  we  're  taking  that  with  us.     There  's 

a  chunk  for  each  of  us  as  a  memento.     We 

cast  lots  for  the  choice,  and  Demorest  won, 

—  that  one  which  you  could  n't  lift  with  one 

hand,  you  know,"  said  Stacy. 

"  Oh,  could  n't  I  ?  I  reckon  you  ain't 
goin'  to  give  me  the  same  chance  that  they 
did  at  the  Mint,  eh  ?  " 

Although  the  remark  was  accompanied 
with  his  usual  coarse,  familiar  laugh,  there 
was  a  look  in  his  eye  so  inconsequent  in  its 
significance  that  Stacy  would  have  made 
some  reply,  but  at  this  moment  Demorest  re- 
entered  the  cabin,  ushering  in  a  half  dozen 
miners  from  the  Bar  below.  They  were, 
although  youngish  men,  some  of  the  older 
locators  in  the  vicinity,  yet,  through  years 
of  seclusion  and  uneventful  labors,  they  had 
acquired  a  certain  childish  simplicity  of 
thought  and  manner  that  was  alternately 


THREE  PARTNERS.  19 

amusing  and  pathetic.  They  had  never  in 
truded  upon  the  reserve  of  the  three  partners 
of  Heavy  Tree  Hill  before ;  nothing  but  an 
infantine  curiosity,  a  shy  recognition  of  the 
partners'  courtesy  in  inviting  them  with  the 
whole  population  of  Heavy  Tree  to  the 
dinner  the  next  day,  and  the  never-to-be- 
resisted  temptation  of  an  evening  of  "  free 
liquor  "  and  forgetfulness  of  the  past  had 
brought  them  there  now.  Among  them,  and 
yet  not  of  them,  was  a  young  man  who,  al 
though  speaking  English  without  accent,  was 
distinctly  of  a  different  nationality  and  race. 
This,  with  a  certain  neatness  of  dress  and  ar 
tificial  suavity  of  address,  had  gained  him  the 
nickname  of  "  the  Count  "  and  "  Frenchy," 
although  he  was  really  of  Flemish  extraction. 
He  was  the  Union  Ditch  Company's  agent 
on  the  Bar,  by  virtue  of  his  knowledge  of 
languages. 

Barker  uttered  an  exclamation  of  pleasure 
when  he  saw  him.  Himself  the  incarnation 
of  naturalness,  he  had  always  secretly  ad 
mired  this  young  foreigner,  with  his  lac 
quered  smoothness,  although  a  vague  con 
sciousness  that  neither  Stacy  nor  Demorest 
shared  his  feeling's  had  restricted  their 


20  TIIREE  PARTNERS. 

acquaintance.  Nevertheless,  he  was  proud 
now  to  see  the  bow  with  which  Paul  Van 
Loo  entered  the  cabin  as  if  it  were  a  drawing- 
room,  and  perhaps  did  not  reflect  upon  that 
want  of  real  feeling  in  an  act  which  made 
the  others  uncomfortable. 

The  slight  awkwardness  their  entrance 
produced,  however,  was  quickly  forgotten 
when  the  blanket  was  again  lifted  from  the 
pan  of  treasure.  Singularly  enough,  too, 
the  same  feverish  light  came  into  the  eyes  of 
each  as  they  all  gathered  around  this  yellow 
shrine.  Even  the  polite  Paul  rudely  elbowed 
his  way  between  the  others,  though  his  arti 
ficial  "  Pardon  "  seemed  to  Barker  to  con 
done  this  act  of  brutal  instinct.  But  it  was 
more  instructive  to  observe  the  manner  in 
which  the  older  locators  received  this  confir 
mation  of  the  fickle  Fortune  that  had  over 
looked  their  weary  labors  and  years  of 
waiting  to  lavish  her  favors  on  the  new  and 
inexperienced  amateurs.  Yet  as  they  turned 
their  dazzled  eyes  upon  the  three  partners 
there  was  no  envy  or  malice  in  their  depths, 
no  reproach  on  their  lips,  no  insincerity  in 
their  wondering  satisfaction.  Rather  there 
was  a  touching,  almost  childlike  resumption 


THREE  PARTNERS.  21 

of  hope  as  they  gazed  at  this  conclusive  evi 
dence  of  Nature's  bounty.  The  gold  had 
been  there  —  they  had  only  missed  it !  And 
if  there,  more  could  be  found  !  Was  it  not 
a  proof  of  the  richness  of  Heavy  Tree  Hill  ? 
So  strongly  was  this  reflected  on  their  faces 
that  a  casual  observer,  contrasting  them 
with  the  thoughtful  countenances  of  the  real 
owners,  would  have  thought  them  the  lucky 
ones.  It  touched  Barker's  quick  sympathies, 
it  puzzled  Stacy,  it  made  Demorest  more 
serious,  it  aroused  Steptoe's  active  contempt. 
Whiskey  Dick  alone  remained  stolid  and 
impassive  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  pull 
himself  once  more  together.  Eventually  he 
succeeded,  even  to  the  ambitious  achieve 
ment  of  mounting  a  chair  and  lifting  his 
tin  cup  with  a  dangerously  unsteady  hand, 
which  did  not,  however,  affect  his  precision 
of  utterance,  and  said  :  — 

"  Order,  gentlemen  !  We  '11  drink  suc 
cess  to  —  to  " 

"  The  next  strike  !  "  said  Barker,  leaping 
impetuously  on  another  chair  and  beaming 
upon  the  old  locators  —  "  and  may  it  come 
to  those  who  have  so  long  deserved  it !  " 

His    sincere    and    generous    enthusiasm 


22  THREE  PARTNERS. 

seemed  to  break  the  spell  of  silence  that 
had  fallen  upon  them.  Other  toasts  quickly 
followed.  -In  the  general  good  feeling  Bar 
ker  attached  himself  to  Van  Loo  with  his 
usual  boyish  effusion,  and  in  a  burst  of  con 
fidence  imparted  the  secret  of  his  engage 
ment  to  Kitty  Carter.  Van  Loo  listened 
with  polite  attention,  formal  congratulations, 
but  inscrutable  eyes,  that  occasionally  wan 
dered  to  Stacy  and  again  to  the  treasure. 
A  slight  chill  of  disappointment  came  over 
Barker's  quick  sensitiveness.  Perhaps  his 
enthusiasm  had  bored  this  superior  man  of 
the  world.  Perhaps  his  confidences  were 
in  bad  taste  !  With  a  new  sense  of  his 
inexperience  he  turned  sadly  away.  Van 
Loo  took  that  opportunity  to  approach 
Stacy. 

"  What 's  all  this  I  hear  of  Barker  being 
engaged  to  Miss  Carter  ?  "  he  said,  with  a 
faintly  superior  smile.  "  Is  it  really  true  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Why  should  n't  it  be  ?  "  returned 
Stacy  bluntly. 

Van  Loo  was  instantly  deprecating  and 
smiling.  "  Why  not,  of  course  ?  But  is  n't 
it  sudden  ?  " 

"  They  have  known  each  other  ever  since 


THREE  PARTNERS.  23 

he 's  been  on  Heavy  Tree  Hill,"  responded 
Stacy. 

"  Ah,  yes !  True,"  said  Van  Loo.  "  But 
now  " 

"  Well  —  he  's  got  money  enough  to 
marry,  and  he  's  going  to  marry." 

"  Rather  young,  is  n't  he  ?  "  said  Van  Loo, 
still  deprecatingly.  "  And  she  's  got  nothing. 
Used  to  wait  on  the  table  at  her  father's 
hotel  in  Boomville,  did  n't  she  ?  " 

"Yes.  What  of  that?  We  all  know 
it." 

"  Of  course.  It 's  an  excellent  thing  for 
her  —  and  her  father.  He  '11  have  a  rich 
son-in-lavv.  About  two  hundred  thousand 
is  his  share,  is  n't  it  ?  I  suppose  old  Carter 
is  delighted  ?  " 

Stacy  had  thought  this  before,  but  did 
not  care  to  have  it  corroborated  by  this 
superfine  young  foreigner.  "  And  I  don't 
reckon  that  Barker  is  offended  if  he  is,"  he 
said  curtly  as  he  turned  away.  Nevertheless, 
he  felt  irritated  that  one  of  the  three  supe 
rior  partners  of  Heavy  Tree  Hill  should  be 
thought  a  dupe. 

Suddenly  the  conversation  dropped,  the 
laughter  ceased.  Every  one  turned  round, 


24  THREE  PARTNERS. 

and,  by  a  common  instinct,  looked  towards 
the  door.  From  the  obscurity  of  the  hill 
slope  below  came  a  wonderful  tenor  voice, 
modulated  by  distance  and  spiritualized  by 
the  darkness :  — 

"  When  at  some  future  day 
I  shall  be  far  away, 
Thou  wilt  he  weeping, 
Thy  lone  watch  keeping." 

The  men  looked  at  one  another.  "  That 's 
Jack  Hamlin,"  they  said.  "  What 's  he 
doing  here  ?  " 

"  The  wolves  are  gathering  around  fresh 
meat,"  said  Steptoe,  with  his  coarse  laugh  and 
a  glance  at  the  treasure.  "  Did  n't  ye  know 
he  came  over  from  Red  Dog  yesterday  ?  " 

"  Well,  give  Jack  a  fair  show  and  his 
own  game,"  said  one  of  the  old  locators, 
"  and  he  'd  clean  out  that  pile  afore  sun 
rise." 

"  And  lose  it  next  day,"  added  another. 

"  But  never  turn  a  hair  or  change  a 
muscle  in  either  case,"  said  a  third.  "  Lord ! 
I  've  heard  him  sing  away  just  like  that 
when  he 's  been  leaving  the  board  with  five 
thousand  dollars  in  his  pocket,  or  going 
away  stripped  of  his  last  red  cent." 


THREE  PARTNERS.  25 

Van  Loo,  who  had  been  listening  with  a 
peculiar  smile,  here  said  in  his  most  depre 
cating  manner,  "  Yes,  but  did  you  never 
consider  the  influence  that  such  a  man  has 
on  the  hard-working  tunnelmen,  who  are 
ready  to  gamble  their  whole  week's  earnings 
to  him  ?  Perhaps  not.  But  I  know  the 
difficulties  of  getting  the  Ditch  rates  from 
these  men  when  he  has  been  in  camp." 

He  glanced  around  him  with  some  impor 
tance,  but  only  a  laugh  followed  his  speech. 
"  Come,  Frenchy,"  said  an  old  locator,  "  you 
only  say  that  because  your  little  brother 
wanted  to  play  with  Jack  like  a  grown  man, 
and  when  Jack  ordered  him  off  the  board 
and  he  became  sassy,  Jack  scooted  him  outer 
the  saloon." 

Van  Loo's  face  reddened  with  an  anger 
that  had  the  apparent  effect  of  removing 
every  trace  of  his  former  polished  repose, 
and  leaving  only  a  hard  outline  beneath. 
At  which  Demorest  interfered  :  — 

"  I  can't  say  that  I  see  much  difference  in 
gambling  by  putting  money  into  a  hole  in 
the  ground  and  expecting  to  take  more  from 
it  than  by  putting  it  on  a  card  for  the  same 
purpose." 


26  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Here  the  ravishing  tenor  voice,  which  had 
been  approaching,  ceased,  and  was  succeeded 
by  a  heart-breaking  and  equally  melodious 
whistling  to  finish  the  bar  of  the  singer's 
song.  And  the  next  moment  Jack  Hamlin 
appeared  in  the  doorway. 

Whatever  was  his  present  financial  condi 
tion,  in  perfect  self-possession  and  charming 
sang-froid  he  fully  bore  out  his  previous 
description.  He  was  as  clean  and  refresh 
ing  looking  as  a  madrono-tree  in  the  dust- 
blown  forest.  An  odor  of  scented  soap  and 
freshly  ironed  linen  was  wafted  from  him  ; 
there  was  scarcely  a  crease  in  his  white 
waistcoat,  nor  a  speck  upon  his  varnished 
shoes.  He  might  have  been  an  auditor  of  the 
previous  conversation,  so  quickly  and  com 
pletely  did  he  seem  to  take  in  the  whole  sit 
uation  at  a  glance.  Perhaps  there  was  an 
extra  tilt  to  his  black-ribboned  Panama  hat, 
and  a  certain  dancing  devilry  in  his  brown 
eyes  —  which  might  also  have  been  an  an 
swer  to  adverse  criticism. 

"  When  I,  his  truth  to  prove,  woidd  trifle 
with  my  love,"  he  warbled  in  general  contin 
uance  from  the  doorway.  Then  dropping 
cheerfully  into  speech,  he  added,  "  Well, 


THREE  PAETNEES.  27 

boys,  I  am  here  to  welcome  the  little  stran 
ger,  and  to  trust  that  the  family  are  doing 
as  well  as  can  be  expected.  Ah !  there  it 
is  !  Bless  it !  "  he  went  on,  walking  lei 
surely  to  the  treasure.  "  Triplets,  too  !  — 
and  plump  at  that.  Have  you  had  'em 
weighed  ?  " 

Frankness  was  an  essential  quality  of 
Heavy  Tree  Hill.  "  We  were  just  saying, 
Jack,"  said  an  old  locator,  "  that,  giving 
you  a  fair  show  and  your  own  game,  you 
could  manage  to  get  away  with  that  pile 
before  daybreak." 

"  And  I  'm  just  thinking,"  said  Jack 
cheerfully,  "that  there  were  some  of  you 
here  that  could  do  that  without  any  such 
useless  preliminary."  His  brown  eyes  rested 
for  a  moment  on  Steptoe,  but  turning  quite 
abruptly  to  Van  Loo,  he  held  out  his  hand. 
Startled  and  embarrassed  before  the  others, 
the  young  man  at  last  advanced  his,  when 
Jack  coolly  put  his  own,  as  if  forgetfully,  in 
his  pocket.  "  I  thought  you  might  like  to 
know  what  that  little  brother  of  yours  is 
doing,"  he  said  to  Van  Loo,  yet  looking  at 
Steptoe.  "  I  found  him  wandering  about 
the  Hill  here  quite  drunk." 


28  THESE  PARTNERS. 

" 1  have  repeatedly  warned  him  "  —  be 
gan  Van  Loo,  reddening. 

"Against  bad  company — I  know,"  sug 
gested  Jack  gayly ;  "  yet  in  spite  of  all  that, 
I  think  he  owes  some  of  his  liquor  to  Steptoe 
yonder." 

"  I  never  supposed  the  fool  would  get 
drunk  over  a  glass  of  whiskey  offered  in 
fun,"  said  Steptoe  harshly,  yet  evidently 
quite  as  much  disconcerted  as  angry. 

"  The  trouble  with  Steptoe,"  said  Hamlin, 
thoughtfully  spanning  his  slim  waist  with 
both  hands  as  he  looked  down  at  his  polished 
shoes,  "is  that  he  has  such  a  soft-hearted 
liking  for  all  weaknesses.  Always  wanting 
to  protect  chaps  that  can't  look  after  them 
selves,  whether  it 's  Whiskey  Dick  there 
when  he  has  a  pull  on,  or  some  nigger  when 
he's  made  a  little  strike,  or  that  straying 
lamb  of  Van  Loo's  when  he  's  puppy  drunk. 
But  you  're  wrong  about  me,  boys.  You 
can't  draw  me  in  any  game  to-night.  This 
is  one  of  my  nights  off,  which  I  devote  ex 
clusively  to  contemplation  and  song.  But," 
he  added,  suddenly  turning  to  his  three  hosts 
with  a  bewildering  and  fascinating  change 
of  expression,  "  I  could  n't  resist  coming 


THREE  PARTNERS.  29 

up  here  to  see  you  and  your  pile,  even  if  I 
never  saw  the  one  or  the  other  before,  and 
am  not  likely  to  see  either  again.  I  believe 
in  luck !  And  it  comes  a  mighty  sight 
oftener  than  a  fellow  thinks  it  does.  But  it 
does  n't  come  to  stay.  So  I  'd  advise  you  to 
keep  your  eyes  skinned,  and  hang  on  to  it 
while  it 's  with  you,  like  grim  death.  So 
long  !  " 

Resisting  all  attempts  of  his  hosts  —  who 
had  apparently  fallen  as  suddenly  and  unac 
countably  under  the  magic  of  his  manner 
—  to  detain  him  longer,  he  stepped  lightly 
away,  his  voice  presently  rising  again  in 
melody  as  he  descended  the  hill.  Nor  was 
it  at  all  remarkable  that  the  others,  appar 
ently  drawn  by  the  same  inevitable  magnet 
ism,  were  impelled  to  follow  him,  naturally 
joining  their  voices  with  his,  leaving  Steptoe 
and  Van  Loo  so  markedly  behind  them  alone 
that  they  were  compelled  at  last  in  sheer 
embarrassment  to  close  up  the  rear  of  the 
procession.  In  another  moment  the  cabin 
and  the  three  partners  again  relapsed  into 
the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  night.  With  the 
dying  away  of  the  last  voices  on  the  hillside 
the  old  solitude  reasserted  itself. 


30  THEEE  PARTNERS. 

But  since  the  irruption  of  the  strangers 
they  had  lost  their  former  sluggish  contem 
plation,  and  now  busied  themselves  in  prepa 
ration  for  their  early  departure  from  the 
cabin  the  next  morning.  They  had  arranged 
to  spend  the  following  day  and  night  at 
Boomville  and  Carter's  Hotel,  where  they 
were  to  give  their  farewell  dinner  to  Heavy 
Tree  Hill.  They  talked  but  little  together : 
since  the  rebuff  his  enthusiastic  confidences 
had  received  from  Van  Loo,  Barker  had 
been  grave  and  thoughtful,  and  Stacy,  with 
the  irritating  recollection  of  Van  Loo's  criti 
cisms  in  his  mind,  had  refrained  from  his 
usual  rallying  of  Barker.  Oddly  enough, 
they  spoke  chiefly  of  Jack  Hamlin,  —  till 
then  personally  a  stranger  to  them,  on  ac 
count  of  his  infelix  reputation,  —  and  even 
the  critical  Demorest  expressed  a  wish  they 
had  known  him  before.  "  But  you  never 
know  the  real  value  of  anything  until  you  're 
quitting  it  or  it 's  quitting  you,"  he  added 
sententiously. 

Barker  and  Stacy  both  stared  at  their 
companion.  It  was  unlike  Demorest  to  re 
gret  anything  —  particularly  a  mere  social 
diversion. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  31 

"  They  say,"  remarked  Stacy,  "  that  if  you 
had  known  Jack  Hamlin  earlier  and  profes 
sionally,  a  great  deal  of  real  value  would 
have  quitted  you  before  he  did." 

"  Don't  repeat  that  rot  flung  out  by  men 
who  have  played  Jack's  game  and  lost,"  re 
turned  Demorest  derisively.  "  I  'd  rather 
trust  him  than  "  —  He  stopped,  glanced 
at  the  meditative  Barker,  and  then  concluded 
abruptly,  "  the  whole  caboodle  of  his  critics." 

They  were  silent  for  a  few  moments,  and 
then  seemed  to  have  fallen  into  their  former 
dreamy  mood  as  they  relapsed  into  their  old 
seats  again.  At  last  Stacy  drew  a  long 
breath.  "  I  wish  we  had  sent  those  nuggets 
off  with  the  others  this  morning." 

"  Why  ?  "  said  Demorest  suddenly. 

"Why?  Well,  d— n  it  all!  they  kind 
of  oppress  me,  don't  you  see.  I  seem  to  feel 
'em  here,  on  my  chest  —  all  the  three,"  re 
turned  Stacy  only  half  jocularly.  "  It 's  their 
d — d  specific  gravity,  I  suppose.  I  don't 
like  the  idea  of  sleeping  in  the  same  room 
with  'em.  They  're  altogether  too  much  for 
us  three  men  to  be  left  alone  with." 

"  You  don't  mean  that  you  think  that 
anybody  would  attempt "  —  said  Demorest. 


32  THREE  PAETNEES. 

Stacy  curled  a  fighting  lip  rather  super 
ciliously.  "  No ;  I  don't  think  that  —  I 
rather  wish  I  did.  It 's  the  blessed  chunks 
of  solid  gold  that  seem  to  have  got  us  fast, 
don't  you  know,  and  are  going  to  stick  to 
us  for  good  or  ill.  A  sort  of  Frankenstein 
monster  that  we've  picked  out  of  a  hole 
from  below." 

"  I  know  just  what  Stacy  means,"  said 
Barker  breathlessly,  rounding  his  gray  eyes. 
"  I  've  felt  it,  too.  Could  n't  we  make  a  sort 
of  cache  of  it  —  bury  it  just  outside  the  cabin 
for  to-night  ?  It  would  be  sort  of  putting  it 
back  into  its  old  place,  you  know,  for  the 
time  being.  It  might  like  it." 

The  other  two  laughed.  "  Rather  rough 
on  Providence,  Barker  boy,"  said  Stacy, 
"  handing  back  the  Heaven-sent  gift  so  soon ! 
Besides,  what 's  to  keep  any  prospector  from 
coming  along  and  making  a  strike  of  it? 
You  know  that 's  mining  law  —  if  you 
haven't  preempted  the  spot  as  a  claim." 

But  Barker  was  too  staggered  by  this 
material  statement  to  make  any  reply,  and 
Demorest  arose.  "  And  I  feel  that  you  'd 
both  better  be  turning  in,  as  we  've  got  to 
get  up  early."  He  went  to  the  corner  of  the 


TREES  PARTNERS.  33 

cabin,  and  threw  the  blanket  back  over  the 
pan  and  its  treasure.  "  There  !  that  '11  keep 
the  chunks  from  getting  up  to  ride  astride 
of  you  like  a  nightmare."  He  shut  the  door 
and  gave  a  momentary  glance  at  its  cheap 
hinges  and  the  absence  of  bolt  or  bar.  Stacy 
caught  his  eye.  "  We  '11  miss  this  security 
in  San  Francisco  —  perhaps  even  in  Boom- 
ville,"  he  sighed. 

It  was  scarcely  ten  o'clock,  but  Stacy  and 
Barker  had  begun  to  undress  themselves  with 
intervals  of  yawning  and  desultory  talk, 
Barker  continuing  an  amusing  story,  with 
one  stocking  off  and  his  trousers  hanging  on 
his  arm,  until  at  last  both  men  were  snugly 
curled  up  in  their  respective  bunks.  Pre 
sently  Stacy's  voice  came  from  under  the 
blankets :  — 

"  Hallo  !  are  n't  you  going  to  turn  in, 
too?" 

"  Not  yet,"  said  Demorest  from  his  chair 
before  the  fire.  "  You  see  it 's  the  last 
night  in  the  old  shanty,  and  I  reckon  I  '11 
see  the  rest  of  it  out." 

"  That 's  so,"  said  the  impulsive  Barker, 
struggling  violently  with  his  blankets.  "  I 
tell  you  what,  boys  :  we  just  ought  to  make 


34  THREE  PARTNERS. 

a  watch-night  of  it  —  a  regular  vigil,  you 
know  —  until  twelve  at  least.  Hold  on ! 
I  '11  get  up,  too ! "  But  here  Demorest 
arose,  caught  his  youthful  partner's  bare 
foot  which  went  searching  painfully  for  the 
ground  in  one  hand,  tucked  it  back  under 
the  blankets,  and  heaping  them  on  the  top 
of  him,  patted  the  bulk  with  an  authorita 
tive,  paternal  air. 

"  You  '11  just  say  your  prayers  and  go  to 
sleep,  sonny.  You  '11  want  to  be  fresh  as  a 
daisy  to  appear  before  Miss  Kitty  to-morrow 
early,  and  you  can  keep  your  vigils  for 
to-morrow  night,  after  dinner,  in  the  back 
drawing-room.  I  said  '  Good-night,'  and  I 
mean  it ! " 

Protesting  feebly,  Barker  finally  yielded 
in  a  nestling  shiver  and  a  sudden  silence. 
Demorest  walked  back  to  his  chair.  A  pro 
longed  snore  came  from  Stacy's  bunk  ;  then 
everything  was  quiet.  Demorest  stirred  up 
the  fire,  cast  a  huge  root  upon  it,  and,  lean 
ing  back  in  his  chair,  sat  with  half-closed 
eyes  and  dreamed. 

It  was  an  old  dream  that  for  the  past 
three  years  had  come  to  him  daily,  some 
times  even  overtaking  him  under  the  shade 


THREE  PARTNERS.  35 

of  a  buckeye  in  his  noontide  rest  on  his 
claim,  —  a  dream  that  had  never  yet  failed 
to  wait  for  him  at  night  by  the  fireside 
when  his  partners  were  at  rest ;  a  dream  of 
the  past,  but  so  real  that  it  always  made  the 
present  seem  the  dream  through  which  he 
was  moving  towards  some  sure  awakening. 

It  was  not  strange  that  it  should  come  to 
him  to-night,  as  it  had  often  come  before, 
slowly  shaping  itself  out  of  the  obscurity  as 
the  vision  of  a  fair  young  girl  seated  in  one 
of  the  empty  chairs  before  him.  Always 
the  same  pretty,  childlike  face,  fraught  with 
a  half -frightened,  half-wondering  trouble  ; 
always  the  same  slender,  graceful  figure,  but 
always  glimmering  in  diamonds  and  satin, 
or  spiritual  in  lace  and  pearls,  against  his 
own  rude  and  sordid  surroundings  ;  always 
silent  with  parted  lips,  until  the  night  wind 
smote  some  chord  of  recollection,  and  then 
mingled  a  remembered  voice  with  his  own. 
For  at  those  times  he  seemed  to  speak  also, 
albeit  with  closed  lips,  and  an  utterance  in 
audible  to  all  but  her. 

"  Well  ?  "  he  said  sadly. 

"  Well  ?  "  the  voice  repeated,  like  a  gen 
tle  echo  blending  with  his  own. 


36  THREE  PAETNEES. 

"  You  know  it  all  now,"  he  went  on. 
"  You  know  that  it  has  come  at  last,  —  all 
that  I  had  worked  for,  prayed  for ;  all  that 
would  have  made  us  happy  here ;  all  that 
would  have  saved  you  to  me  has  come  at 
last,  and  all  too  late !  " 

"  Too  late  !  "  echoed  the  voice  with  his. 

"  You  remember,"  he  went  on,  "  the  last 
day  we  were  together.  You  remember  your 
friends  and  family  would  have  you  give  me 
up  —  a  penniless  man.  You  remember  when 
they  reproached  you  with  my  poverty,  and 
told  you  that  it  was  only  your  wealth  that  I 
was  seeking,  that  I  then  determined  to  go 
away  and  never  to  return  to  claim  you  until 
that  reproach  could  be  removed.  You  re 
member,  dearest,  how  you  clung  to  me  and 
bade  me  stay  with  you,  even  fly  with  you, 
but  not  to  leave  you  alone  with  them.  You 
wore  the  same  dress  that  day,  darling ;  your 
eyes  had  the  same  wondering  childlike  fear 
and  trouble  in  them;  your  jewels  glittered 
on  you  as  you  trembled,  and  I  refused.  In 
my  pride,  or  rather  in  my  weakness  and 
cowardice,  I  refused.  I  came  away  and 
broke  my  heart  among  these  rocks  and 
ledges,  yet  grew  strong ;  and  you,  my  love, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  37 

you,  sheltered  and  guarded  by  those  you 
loved,  you  "  —  He  stopped  and  buried  his 
face  in  his  hands.  The  night  wind  breathed 

I  down  the  chimney,  "and  from  the  stirred 

ashes  on  the  hearth  came  the  soft  whisper, 
"I  died." 

"  And  then,"  he  went  on,  "  I  cared  for 
nothing.  Sometimes  my  heart  awoke  for 
this  young  partner  of  mine  in  his  innocent, 
trustful  love  for  a  girl  that  even  in  her 
humble  station  was  far  beyond  his  hopes, 
and  I  pitied  myself  in  him.  Home,  fortune, 
friends,  I  no  longer  cared  for  —  all  were 
forgotten.  And  now  they  are  returning  to 
me- — only  that  I  may  see  the  hollowness 
and  vanity  of  them,  and  taste,  the  bitterness 
for  which  I  have  sacrificed  you.  And  here, 
on  this  last  night  of  my  exile,  I  am  con 
fronted  with  only  the  jealousy,  the  doubt, 
the  meanness  and  selfishness  that  is  to  come. 
Too  late  !  Too  late  !  " 

The  wondering,  troubled  eyes  that  had 
looked  into  his  here  appeared  to  clear  and 
brighten  with  a  sweet  prescience.  Was  it 
the  wind  moaning  in  the  chimney  that 
seemed  to  whisper  to  him :  "  Too  late,  be 
loved,  for  me,  but  not  for  you.  /died,  but 


38  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Love  still  lives.  Be  happy,  Philip.  And 
in  your  happiness  I  too  may  live  again  "  ? 

He  started.  In  the  flickering  firelight 
the  chair  was  empty.  The  wind  that  had 
swept  down  the  chimney  had  stirred  the 
ashes  with  a  sound  like  the  passage  of  a 
rustling  skirt.  There  was  a  chill  in  the  air 
and  a  smell  like  that  of  opened  earth.  A 
nervous  shiver  passed  over  him.  Then  he 
sat  upright.  There  was  no  mistake ;  it  was 
no  superstitious  fancy,  but  a  faint,  damp 
current  of  air  was  actually  flowing  across 
his  feet  towards  the  fireplace.  He  was  about 
to  rise  when  he  stopped  suddenly  and  be 
came  motionless. 

He  was  actively  conscious  now  of  a  strange 
sound  which  had  affected  him  even  in  the 
preoccupation  of  his  vision.  It  was  a  gentle 
brushing  of  some  yielding  substance  like  that 
made  by  a  soft  broom  on  sand,  or  the  sweep 
of  a  gown.  But  to  his  mountain  ears,  at 
tuned  to  every  woodland  sound,  it  was  not 
like  the  gnawing  of  gopher  or  squirrel,  the 
scratching  of  wildcat,  nor  the  hairy  rubbing 
of  bear.  Nor  was  it  human  ;  the  long,  deep 
respirations  of  his  sleeping  companions  were 
distinct  from  that  monotonous  sound.  He 


THREE  PARTNERS.  39 

could  not  even  tell  if  it  were  in  the  cabin  or 
without.  Suddenly  his  eye  fell  upon  the 
pile  in  the  corner.  The  blanket  that  cov 
ered  the  treasure  was  actually  moving ! 

He  rose  quickly,  but  silently,  alert,  self- 
contained,  and  menacing.  For  this  dreamer, 
this  bereaved  man,  this  scornful  philosopher 
of  riches  had  disappeared  with  that  midnight 
trespass  upon  the  sacred  treasure.  The 
movement  of  the  blanket  ceased ;  the  soft, 
swishing  sound  recommenced.  He  drew  a 
glittering  bowie-knife  from  his  boot-leg,  and 
in  three  noiseless  strides  was  beside  the  pile. 
There  he  saw  what  he  fully  expected  to  see, 
—  a  narrow,  horizontal  gap  between  the  log 
walls  of  the  cabin  and  the  adobe  floor,  slowly 
widening  and  deepening  by  the  burrowing  of 
unseen  hands  from  without.  The  cold  outer 
air  which  he  had  felt  before  was  now  plainly 
flowing  into  the  heated  cabin  through  the 
opening.  The  swishing  sound  recommenced, 
and  stopped.  Then  the  four  fingers  of  a 
hand,  palm  downwards,  were  cautiously  in 
troduced  between  the  bottom  log  and  the 
denuded  floor.  Upon  that  intruding  hand 
the  bowie-knife  of  Demorest  descended  like 
a  flash  of  lightning.  There  was  no  outcry. 


40  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Even  in  that  supreme  moment  Demorest 
felt  a  pang  of  admiration  for  the  stoicism  of 
the  unseen  trespasser.  But  the  maimed 
hand  was  quickly  withdrawn,  and  as  quickly 
Demorest  rushed  to  the  door  and  dashed  into 
the  outer  darkness. 

For  an  instant  he  was  dazed  and  bewil 
dered  by  the  sudden  change.  But  the  next 
moment  he  saw  a  dodging,  doubling  figure 
running  before  him,  and  threw  himself  upon 
it.  In  the  shock  both  men  fell,  but  even  in 
that  contact  Demorest  felt  the  tangled  beard 
and  alcoholic  fumes  of  Whiskey  Dick,  and 
felt  also  that  the  hands  which  were  thrown 
up  against  his  breast,  the  palms  turned  out 
ward  with  the  instinctive  movement  of  a 
timid,  defenseless  man,  were  unstained  with 
soil  or  blood.  With  an  oath  he  threw  the 
drunkard  from  him  and  dashed  to  the  rear 
of  the  cabin.  But  too  late  !  There,  indeed, 
was  the  scattered  earth,  there  the  widened 
burrow  as  it  had  been  excavated  apparently 
by  that  mutilated  hand  —  but  nothing  else  ! 

He  turned  back  to  Whiskey  Dick.  But 
the  miserable  man,  although  still  retaining  a 
look  of  dazed  terror  in  his  eyes,  had  recov 
ered  his  feet  in  a  kind  of  angry  confidence 


THREE  PARTNERS.  41 

and  a  forced  sense  of  injury.  What  did 
Demorest  mean  by  attacking  "  innoshent " 
gentlemen  on  the  trail  outside  his  cabin  ? 
Yes !  outside  his  cabin,  he  would  swear  it ! 

"  What  were  you  doing  here  at  mid 
night  ?  "  demanded  Demorest. 

What  was  he  doing?  What  was  any 
gentleman  doing?  He  wasn't  any  molly 
coddle  to  go  to  bed  at  ten  o'clock !  What 
was  he  doing  ?  Well  —  he  'd  been  with  men 
who  didn't  shut  their  doors  and  turn  the 
boys  out  just  in  the  shank  of  the  evening. 
He  was  n't  any  Barker  to  be  wet-nursed  by 
Demorest. 

"  Some  one  else  was  here  ! "  said  Demorest 
sternly,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  Whiskey 
Dick.  The  dull  glaze  which  seemed  to  veil 
the  outer  world  from  the  drunkard's  pupils 
shifted  suddenly  with  such  a  look  of  direct 
horror  that  Demorest  was  fain  to  turn  away 
his  own.  But  the  veil  mercifully  returned, 
and  with  it  Dick's  worked-up  sense  of  injury. 
Nobody  was  there — not  "a  shole."  Did 
Demorest  think  if  there  had  been  any  of 
his  friends  there  they  would  have  stood  by 
like  "  dogsh  "  and  seen  him  insulted  ? 

Demorest  turned  away  and  reentered  the 


42  THREE  PARTNERS. 

cabin  as  Dick  lurched  heavily  forward,  still 
muttering,  down  the  trail.  The  excitement 
over,  a  sickening  repugnance  to  the  whole 
incident  took  the  place  of  Demorest's  resent 
ment  and  indignation.  There  had  been  a 
cowardly  attempt  to  rob  them  of  their  mis 
erable  treasure.  He  had  met  it  and  frus 
trated  it  in  almost  as  brutal  a  fashion  :  the 
gold  was  already  tarnished  with  blood.  To 
his  surprise,  yet  relief,  he  found  his  partners 
unconscious  of  the  outrage,  still  sleeping 
with  the  physical  immobility  of  over-excited 
and  tired  men.  Should  he  awaken  them  ? 
No !  He  should  have  to  awaken  also  their 
suspicions  and  desire  for  revenge.  There 
was  no  danger  of  a  further  attack ;  there 
was  no  fear  that  the  culprit  would  disclose 
himself,  and  to-morrow  they  would  be  far 
away.  Let  oblivion  rest  upon  that  night's 
stain  on  the  honor  of  Heavy  Tree  Hill. 

He  rolled  a  small  barrel  before  the  open 
ing,  smoothed  the  dislodged  earth,  replaced 
the  pan  with  its  treasure,  and  trusted  that  in 
the  bustle  of  the  early  morning  departure 
his  partners  might  not  notice  any  change. 
Stopping  before  the  bunk  of  Stacy  he  glanced 
at  the  sleeping  man.  He  was  lying  on  his 


THREE  PAETNEES.  43 

back,  but  breathing  heavily,  and  his  hands 
were  moving  towards  his  chest  as  if,  indeed, 
his  strange  fancy  of  the  golden  incubus 
were  being  realized.  Demorest  would  have 
wakened  him,  but  presently,  with  a  sigh  of 
relief,  the  sleeper  turned  over  on  his  side.  It 
was  pleasanter  to  look  at  Barker,  whose  damp 
curls  were  matted  over  his  smooth,  boyish 
forehead,  and  whose  lips  were  parted  in  a 
smile  under  the  silken  wings  of  his  brown 
mustache.  He,  too,  seemed  to  be  trying  to 
speak,  and  remembering  some  previous  re 
velations  which  had  amused  them,  Demorest 
leaned  over  him  fraternally  with  an  answer 
ing  smile,  waiting  for  the  beloved  one's  name 
to  pass  the  young  man's  lips.  But  he  only 
murmured,  "  Three  —  hundred  —  thousand 
dollars  !  "  The  elder  man  turned  away  with 
a  grave  face.  The  influence  of  the  treasure 
was  paramount. 

When  he  had  placed  one  of  the  chairs 
against  the  unprotected  door  at  an  angle 
which  would  prevent  any  easy  or  noiseless 
intrusion,  Demorest  threw  himself  on  his 
bunk  without  undressing,  and  turned  his  face 
towards  the  single  window  of  the  cabin  that 
looked  towards  the  east.  He  did  not  appre- 


44  THREE  PARTNERS. 

hend  another  covert  attempt  against  the 
gold.  He  did  not  fear  a  robbery  with  force 
and  arms,  although  he  was  satisfied  that 
there  was  more  than  one  concerned  in  it, 
but  this  he  attributed  only  to  the  encumber 
ing  weight  of  their  expected  booty.  He 
simply  waited  for  the  dawn.  It  was  some 
time  before  his  eyes  were  greeted  with  the 
vague  opaline  brightness  of  the  firmament 
which  meant  the  vanishing  of  the  pallid 
snow-line  before  the  coming  day.  A  bird 
twittered  on  the  roof.  The  air  was  chill ; 
he  drew  his  blanket  around  him.  Then  he 
closed  his  eyes,  he  fancied  only  for  a  mo 
ment,  but  when  he  opened  them  the  door 
was  standing  open  in  the  strong  daylight. 
He  sprang  to  his  feet,  but  the  next  moment 
he  saw  it  was  only  Stacy  who  had  passed 
out,  and  was  returning  fully  dressed,  bring 
ing  water  from  the  spring  to  fill  the  kettle. 
But  Stacy's  face  was  so  grave  that,  recalling 
his  disturbed  sleep,  Demorest  laughingly 
inquired  if  he  had  been  haunted  by  the 
treasure.  But  to  his  surprise  Stacy  put 
down  the  kettle,  and,  with  a  hurried  glance 
at  the  still  sleeping  Barker,  said  in  a  low 
voice :  — 


THREE  PAETNEES.  45 

"  I  want  you  to  do  something  for  me  with 
out  asking  why.  Later  I  will  tell  you." 

Demorest  looked  at  him  fixedly.  "  What 
is  it  ?  "  he  said. 

"  The  pack-mules  will  be  here  in  a  few 
moments.  Don't  wait  to  close  up  or  put 
away  anything  here,  but  clap  that  gold  in 
the  saddle-bags,  and  take  Barker  with  you 
and  '  lite '  out  for  Boomville  at  once.  I 
will  overtake  you  later." 

"  Is  there  no  time  to  discuss  this  ?  "  asked 
Demorest. 

"  No,"  said  Stacy  bluntly.  «  Call  me  a 
crank,  say  I  'm  in  a  blue  funk "  —  his 
compressed  lips  and  sharp  black  eyes  did  not 
lend  themselves  much  to  that  hypothesis  — 
"  only  get  out  of  this  with  that  stuff,  and 
take  Barker  with  you  !  I  'm  not  responsi 
ble  for  myself  while  it 's  here." 

Demorest  knew  Stacy  to  be  combative,  but 
practical.  If  he  had  not  been  assured  of 
his  partner's  last  night  slumbers  he  might 
have  thought  he  knew  of  the  attempt.  Or 
if  he  had  discovered  the  turned-up  ground 
in  the  rear  of  the  cabin  his  curiosity  would 
have  demanded  an  explanation.  Demorest 
paused  only  for  a  moment,  and  said,  "  Very 
well,  I  will  go." 


46  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  Good  !  I  '11  rouse  out  Barker,  but  not 
a  word  to  him  —  except  that  he  must  go." 

The  rousing  out  of  Barker  consisted  of 
Stacy's  lifting  that  young  gentleman  bodily 
from  his  bunk  and  standing  him  upright  in 
the  open  doorway.  But  Barker  was  accus 
tomed  to  this  Spartan  process,  and  after  a 
moment's  balancing  with  closed  lids  like  an 
unwrapped  mummy,  he  sat  down  in  the 
doorway  and  began  to  dress.  He  at  first 
demurred  to  their  departure  except  all  to 
gether  —  it  was  so  unf raternal ;  but  eventu 
ally  he  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  out 
of  it  and  into  his  clothes.  For  Barker  had 
also  had  his  visions  in  the  night,  one  of 
which  was  that  they  should  build  a  beautiful 
villa  on  the  site  of  the  old  cabin  and  sol 
emnly  agree  to  come  every  year  and  pass  a 
week  in  it  together.  "  I  thought  at  first," 
he  said,  sliding  along  the  floor  in  search  of 
different  articles  of  his  dress,  or  stopping" 
gravely  to  catch  them  as  they  were  thrown 
to  him  by  his  partners,  "  that  we  'd  have  it 
at  Boomville,  as  being  handier  to  get  there  ; 
but  I  've  concluded  we  'd  better  have  it 
here,  a  little  higher  up  the  hill,  where  it 
could  be  seen  over  the  whole  Black  Spur 


THREE  PARTNERS.  47 

Range.  When  we  were  n't  here  we  could 
use  it  as  a  Hut  of  Refuge  for  broken-down 
or  washed-out  miners  or  weary  travelers, 
like  those  hospices  in  the  Alps,  you  know, 
and  have  somebody  to  keep  it  for  us.  You 
see  I  've  thought  even  of  that,  and  Van  Loo 
is  the  very  man  to  take  charge  of  it  for  us. 
You  see  he  's  got  such  good  manners  and 
speaks  two  languages.  Lord  !  if  a  German 
or  Frenchman  came  along,  poor  and  dis 
tressed,  Van  Loo  would  just  chip  in  his  own 
language.  See  ?  You  've  got  to  think  of 
all  these  details,  you  see,  boys.  And  we 
might  call  it  '  The  Rest  of  the  Three  Part 
ners,'  or  '  Three  Partners'  Rest.' ' 

"  And  you  might  begin  by  giving  us  one," 
said  Stacy.  "  Dry  up  and  drink  your  cof 
fee." 

"  I  '11  draw  out  the  plans.  I  've  got  it 
all  in  my  head,"  continued  the  enthusiastic 
Barker,  unheeding  the  interruption.  "  I  '11 
just  run  out  and  take  a  look  at  the  site,  it 's 
only  right  back  of  the  cabin."  But  here 
Stacy  caught  him  by  his  dangling  belt  as  he 
was  flying  out  of  the  door  with  one  boot  on, 
and  thrust  him  down  in  a  chair  with  a  tin 
cup  of  coffee  in  his  hand. 


48  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  Keep  the  plans  in  your  head,  Barker 
boy,"  said  Demorest,  "  for  here  are  the  pack- 
mules  and  packer."  This  was  quite  enough 
to  divert  the  impressionable  young  man,  who 
speedily  finished  his  dressing,  as  a  mule 
bearing  a  large  pack-saddle  and  two  enor 
mous  saddle-bags  or  pouches  drove  up  be 
fore  the  door,  led  by  a  muleteer  on  a  small 
horse.  The  transfer  of  the  treasure  to  the 
saddle-bags  was  quickly  made  by  their  united 
efforts,  as  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  were 
beginning  to  paint  the  hillside.  Shading 
his  keen  eyes  with  his  hand,  Stacy  stood  in 
the  doorway  and  handed  Demorest  the  two 
rifles.  Demorest  hesitated.  "  Had  n't  you 
better  keep  one  ?  "  he  said,  looking  in  his 
partner's  eyes  with  his  first  challenge  of  cu 
riosity.  The  sun  seemed  to  put  a  humorous 
twinkle  into  Stacy's  glance  as  he  returned, 
"Not  much!  And  you'd  better  take  my 
revolver  with  you,  too.  I  'm  feeling  a  little 
better  now,"  he  said,  looking  at  the  saddle 
bags,  "  but  I  'm  not  fit  to  be  trusted  yet  with 
carnal  weapons.  When  the  other  mule  comes 
and  is  packed  I  '11  overtake  you  on  the 
horse." 

A  little  more  satisfied,  although  still  won- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  49 

dering  and  perplexed,  Demorest  shouldered 
one  rifle,  and  with  Barker,  who  was  carrying 
the  other,  followed  the  muleteer  and  his  equi 
page  down  the  trail.  For  a  while  he  was  a 
little  ashamed  of  his  part  in  this  unusual 
spectacle  of  two  armed  men  convoying  a  laden 
mule  in  broad  daylight,  but,  luckily,  it  was 
too  early  for  the  Bar  miners  to  be  going  to 
work,  and  as  the  timnehnen  were  now  at 
breakfast  the  trail  was  free  of  wayfarers. 
At  the  point  where  it  crossed  the  main  road 
Demorest,  however,  saw  Steptoe  and  Whis 
key  Dick  emerge  from  the  thicket,  appar 
ently  in  earnest  conversation.  Demorest  felt 
his  repugnance  and  half -restrained  suspicions 
suddenly  return.  Yet  he  did  not  wish  to 
betray  them  before  Barker,  nor  was  he  will 
ing,  in  case  of  an  emergency,  to  allow  the 
young  man  to  be  entirely  unprepared.  Call 
ing  him  to  follow,  he  ran  quickly  ahead  of 
the  laden  mule,  and  was  relieved  to  find  that, 
looking  back,  his  companion  had  brought  his 
rifle  to  a  "  ready,"  through  some  instinctive 
feeling  of  defense.  As  Steptoe  and  Whis 
key  Dick,  a  moment  later  discovering  them, 
were  evidently  surprised,  there  seemed,  how 
ever,  to  be  no  reason  for  fearing  an  out- 


50  THREE  PARTNERS. 

break.  Suddenly,  at  a  whisper  from  Step- 
toe,  he  and  Whiskey  Dick  both  threw  up 
their  hands,  and  stood  still  on  the  trail  a  few 
yards  from  them  in  a  burlesque  of  the  usual 
recognized  attitude  of  helplessness,  while  a 
hoarse  laugh  broke  from  Steptoe. 

"  D — d  if  we  did  n't  think  you  were  road- 
agents  !  But  we  see  you  're  only  guarding 
your  treasure.  Rather  fancy  style  for  Heavy 
Tree  Hill,  ain't  it?  Things  must  be  gettin' 
rough  up  thar  to  hev  to  take  out  your  guns 
like  that ! " 

Demorest  had  looked  keenly  at  the  four 
hands  thus  exhibited,  and  was  more  con 
cerned  that  they  bore  no  trace  of  wounds  or 
mutilation  than  at  the  insult  of  the  speech, 
particularly  as  he  had  a  distinct  impression 
that  the  action  was  intended  to  show  him 
the  futility  of  his  suspicions. 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  that  if  you  have  n't  any 
arms  in  your  hands  you  're  not  incapable  of 
handling  them,"  said  Demorest  coolly,  as  he 
passed  by  them  and  again  fell  into  the  rear 
of  the  muleteer. 

But  Barker  had  thought  the  incident  very 
funny,  and  laughed  effusively  at  Whiskey 
Dick.  "  I  did  n't  know  that  Steptoe  was  up 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  51 

to  that  kind  of  fun,"  he  said,  "  and  I  sup 
pose  we  did  look  rather  rough  with  these 
guns  as  we  ran  on  ahead  of  the  mule.  But 
then  you  know  that  when  you  called  to  me 
I  really  thought  you  were  in  for  a  shindy. 
All  the  same,  Whiskey  Dick  did  that '  hands 
up '  to  perfection  :  how  he  managed  it  I 
don't  know,  but  his  kifees  seemed  to  knock 
together  as  if  he  was  in  a  real  funk." 

Dernorest  had  thought  so  too,  but  he  made 
no  reply.  How  far  that  miserable  drunkard 
was  a  forced  or  willing  accomplice  of  the 
events  of  last  night  was  part  of  a  question 
that  had  become  more  and  more  repugnant  to 
him  as  he  was  leaving  the  scene  of  it  forever. 
It  had  come  upon  him,  desecrating  the  dream 
he  had  dreamt  that  last  night  and  turning 
its  hopeful  climax  to  bitterness.  Small  won 
der  that  Barker,  walking  by  his  side,  had 
his  quick  sympathies  aroused,  and  as  he  saw 
that  shadow,  which  they  were  all  familiar 
with,  but  had  never  sought  to  penetrate,  fall 
upon  his  companion's  handsome  face,  even 
his  youthful  spirits  yielded  to  it.  They  were 
both  relieved  when  the  clatter  of  hoofs  be 
hind  them,  as  they  reached  the  valley,  an 
nounced  the  approach  of  Stacy.  "  I  started 


52  THREE  PARTNERS. 

with  the  second  mule  and  the  last  load  soon 
after  you  left,"  he  explained,  "  and  have  just 
passed  them.  I  thought  it  better  to  join 
you  and  let  the  other  load  follow.  Nobody 
will  interfere  with  that." 

"  Then  you  are  satisfied  ?  "  said  Demo- 
rest,  regarding  him  steadfastly. 

"  You  bet !     Lool !  " 

He  turned  in  his  saddle  and  pointed  to 
the  crest  of  the  hill  they  had  just  descended. 
Above  the  pines  circling  the  lower  slope 
above  the  bare  ledges  of  rock  and  outcrop, 
a  column  of  thick  black  smoke  was  rising 
straight  as  a  spire  in  the  windless  air. 

"  That 's  the  old  shanty  passing  away," 
said  Stacy  complacently.  "  I  reckon  there 
won't  be  much  left  of  it  before  we  get  to 
Boomville." 

Demorest  and  Barker  stared.  "  You 
fired  it  ?  "  said  Barker,  trembling  with  ex 
citement. 

"  Yes,"  said  Stacy.  "  I  could  n't  bear  to 
leave  the  old  rookery  for  coyotes  and  wild 
cats  to  gather  in,  so  I  touched  her  off  before 
I  left." 

"  But "  —  said  Barker. 

"But,"      repeated      Stacy      composedly. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  53 

"  Hallo !  what 's  the  matter  with  that  new 
plan  of  '  The  Rest '  that  you  're  going  to 
build,  eh  ?  You  don't  want  them  both." 

"  And  you  did  this  rather  than  leave  the 
dear  old  cabin  to  strangers  ?  "  said  Barker, 
with  kindling  eyes.  "  Stacy,  I  did  n't  think 
you  had  that  poetry  in  you  !  " 

"  There  's  heaps  in  me,  Barker  boy,  that 
you  don't  know,  and  I  don't  exactly  sabe 
myself." 

"  Only,"  continued  the  young  fellow 
eagerly,  "  we  ought  to  have  all  been  there  ! 
We  ought  to  have  made  a  solemn  rite  of  it, 
you  know,  —  a  kind  of  sacrifice.  We  ought 
to  have  poured  a  kind  of  libation  on  the 
ground  !  " 

"  I  did  sprinkle  a  little  kerosene  over  it, 
I  think,"  returned  Stacy,  "just  to  help 
things  along.  But  if  you  want  to  see  her 
flaming,  Barker,  you  just  run  back  to  that 
last  corner  on  the  road  beyond  the  big  red 
wood.  That 's  the  spot  for  a  view." 

As  Barker  —  always  devoted  to  a  specta 
cle  —  swiftly  disappeared  the  two  men  faced 
each  other.  "  Well,  what  does  it  all  mean  ?  " 
said  Demorest  gravely. 

"  It   means,  old  man,"  said    Stacy  sud- 


54  THREE  PARTNERS. 

denly,  "  that  if  we  had  n't  had  nigger  luck, 
the  same  blind  luck  that  sent  us  that  strike, 
you  and  I  and  that  Barker  over  there  would 
have  been  swirling  in  that  smoke  up  to  the 
sky  about  two  hours  ago  !  "  He  stopped  and 
added  in  a  lower,  but  earnest  voice,  "  Look 
here,  Phil !  When  I  went  out  to  fetch 
water  this  morning  I  smelt  something  queer. 
I  went  round  to  the  back  of  the  cabin  and 
found  a  hole  dug  under  the  floor,  and  piled 
against  the  corner  wall  a  lot  of  brush 
wood  and  a  can  of  kerosene.  Some  of  the 
kerosene  had  been  already  poured  on  the 
brush.  Everything  was  ready  to  light,  and 
only  my  coming  out  an  hour  earlier  had 
frightened  the  devils  away.  The  idea  was 
to  set  the  place  on  fire,  suffocate  us  in  the 
smoke  of  the  kerosene  poured  into  the  hole, 
and  then  to  rush  in  and  grab  the  treasure. 
It  was  a  systematic  plan  !  " 

"  No  !  "  said  Demorest  quietly. 

"  No  ?  "  repeated  Stacy.  "  I  told  you 
I  saw  the  whole  thing  and  took  away  the 
kerosene,  which  I  hid,  and  after  you  had 
gone  used  it  to  fire  the  cabin  with,  to  see  if 
the  ones  I  suspected  would  gather  to  watch 
their  work." 


THREE  PARTNERS.  55 

"  It  was  no  part  of  their  first  plan,"  said 
Demorest,  "  which  was  only  robbery.  Lis 
ten  !  "  He  hurriedly  recounted  his  experi 
ence  of  the  preceding  night  to  the  astonished 
Stacy.  "  No,  the  fire  was  an  afterthought 
and  revenge,"  he  added  sternly. 

"  But  you  say  you  cut  the  robber  in  the 
hand  ;  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  iden 
tifying  him  by  that." 

"  I  wounded  only  a  hand"  said  Demo- 
rest.  "  But  there  was  a  head  in  that  at 
tempt  that  I  never  saw."  He  then  revealed 
his  own  half-suspicions,  but  how  they  were 
apparently  refuted  by  the  bravado  of  Step- 
toe  and  Whiskey  Dick. 

"Then  that  was  the  reason  they  didn't 
gather  at  the  fire,"  said  Stacy  quickly. 

"  Ah !  "  said  Demorest,  "  then  you  too 
suspected  them  ?  " 

Stacy  hesitated,  and  then  said  abruptly, 
«  Yes." 

Demorest  was  silent  for  a  moment. 
"  Why  did  n't  you  tell  me  this  this  morn 
ing  ?  "  he  said  gently. 

Stacy  pointed  to  the  distant  Barker.  "  I 
did  n't  want  you  to  tell  him.  I  thought  it 
better  for  one  partner  to  keep  a  secret  from 


56  THREE  PARTNERS. 

two  than  for  the  two  to  keep  it  from  one. 
Why  didn't  you  tell  me  of  your  experience 
last  night  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  it  was  for  the  same  reason," 
said  Demorest,  with  a  faint  smile.  "  And  it 
sometimes  seems  to  me,  Jim,  that  we  ought 
to  imitate  Barker's  frankness.  In  our  dread 
of  tainting  him  with  our  own  knowledge  of 
evil  we  are  sending  him  out  into  the  world 
very  poorly  equipped,  for  all  his  three  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars." 

"  I  reckon  you  're  right,"  said  Stacy 
briefly,  extending  his  hand.  "  Shake  on 
that ! " 

The  two  men  grasped  each  other's  hands. 

"  And  he 's  no  fool,  either,"  continued 
Demorest.  "  When  we  met  Steptoe  on  the 
road,  without  a  word  from  me,  he  closed  up 
alongside,  with  his  hand  on  the  lock  of  his 
rifle.  And  I  had  n't  the  heart  to  praise  him 
or  laugh  it  off." 

Nevertheless  they  were  both  silent  as  the 
object  of  their  criticism  bounded  down  the 
trail  towards  them.  He  had  seen  the  fune 
ral  pyre.  It  was  awfully  sad,  it  was  awfully 
lovely,  but  there  was  something  grand  in  it! 
Who  could  have  thought  Stacy  could  be  so 


THREE  PARTNERS.  57 

poetic  ?  But  he  wanted  to  tell  them  some 
thing  else  that  was  mighty  pretty. 

"  What  was  it?  "  said  Demorest. 

"  Well,"  said  Barker,  "  don't  laugh  !  But 
you  know  that  Jack  Hamlin  ?  Well,  boys, 
he  's  been  hovering  around  us  011  his  mus 
tang,  keeping  us  and  that  pack-mule  in  sight 
ever  since  we  left.  Sometimes  he  's  on  a 
side  trail  off  to  the  right,  sometimes  off  to 
the  left,  but  always  at  the  same  distance.  I 
did.n't  like  to  tell  you,  boys,  for  I  thought 
you  'd  laugh  at  me  ;  but  I  think,  you  know, 
he  's  taken  a  sort  of  shine  to  us  since  he 
dropped  in  last  night.  And  I  fancy,  you 
see,  he  's  sort  of  hanging  round  to  see  that 
we  get  along  all  right.  I  'd  have  pointed 
him  out  before  only  I  reckoned  you  and 
Stacy  would  say  he  was  making  up  to  us  for 
our  money." 

"  And  we  'd  have  been  wrong,  Barker 
boy,"  said  Stacy,  with  a  heartiness  that  sur 
prised  Demorest,  "  for  I  reckon  your  in 
stinct  's  the  right  one." 

"  There  he  is  now,"  said  the  gratified 
Barker,  "  just  abreast  of  us  on  the  cut-off. 
He  started  just  after  we  did,  and  he  's  got 
a  horse  that  could  have  brought  him  into 


58  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Boomville  hours  ago.  It 's  just  his  kind 
ness." 

He  pointed  to  a  distant  fringe  of  buckeye 
from  which  Jack  Hamlin  had  just  emerged. 
Although  evidently  holding  in  a  powerful 
mustang,  nothing  could  be  more  unconscious 
and  utterly  indifferent  than  his  attitude. 
He  did  not  seem  to  know  of  the  proximity 
of  any  other  traveler,  and  to  care  less.  His 
handsome  head  was  slightly  thrown  back,  as 
if  he  was  caroling  after  his  usual  fashion, 
but  the  distance  was  too  great  to  make  his 
melody  audible  to  them,  or  to  allow  Bar 
ker's  shout  of  invitation  to  reach  him.  Sud 
denly  he  lowered  his  tightened  rein,  the 
mustang  sprang  forward,  and  with  a  flash  of 
silver  spurs  and  bridle  fripperies  he  had  dis 
appeared.  But  as  the  trail  he  was  pursuing 
crossed  theirs  a  mile  beyond,  it  seemed  quite 
possible  that  they  should  again  meet  him. 

They  were  now  fairly  into  the  Boomville 
valley,  and  were  entering  a  narrow  arroyo 
bordered  with  dusky  willows  which  effectu 
ally  excluded  the  view  on  either  side.  It 
was  the  bed  of  a  mountain  torrent  that  in 
winter  descended  the  hillside  over  the  trail 
by  which  they  had  just  come,  but  was  now 


THREE  PARTNERS.  59 

sunk  into  the  thirsty  plain  between  banks 
that  varied  from  two  to  five  feet  in  height. 
The  muleteer  had  advanced  into  the  narrow 
channel  when  he  suddenly  cast  a  hurried 
glance  behind  him,  uttered  a  "•  Madre  de 
Dios  !  "  and  backed  his  mule  and  his  pre 
cious  freight  against  the  bank.  The  sound 
of  hoofs  on  the  trail  in  their  rear  had  caught 
his  quicker  ear,  and  as  the  three  partners 
turned  they  beheld  three  horsemen  thunder 
ing  down  the  hill  towards  them.  They  were 
apparently  Mexican  vaqueros  of  the  usual 
common  swarthy  type,  their  faces  made  still 
darker  by  the  black  silk  handkerchief  tied 
round  their  heads  under  their  stiff  sombreros. 
Either  they  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  re> 
strain  their  horses  in  their  headlong  speed, 
and  a  collision  in  that  narrow  passage  was 
imminent,  but  suddenly,  before  reaching  its 
entrance,  they  .  diverged  with  a  volley  of 
oaths,  and  dashing  along  the  left  bank  of 
the  arroyo,  disappeared  in  the  intervening 
willows.  Divided  between  relief  at  their 
escape  and  indignation  at  what  seemed  to  be 
a  drunken,  feast-day  freak  of  these  roystering 
vaqueros,  the  little  party  re-formed,  when  a 
cry  from  Barker  arrested  them.  He  had 


60  THREE  PARTNERS. 

just  perceived  a  horseman  motionless  in  the 
arroyo  who,  although  unnoticed  by  them, 
had  evidently  been  seen  by  the  Mexicans. 
He  had  apparently  leaped  into  it  from  the 
bank,  and  had  halted  as  if  to  witness  this 
singular  incident.  As  the  clatter  of  the 
vaqueros'  hoofs  died  away  he  lightly  leaped 
the  bank  again  and  disappeared.  But  in 
that  single  glimpse  of  him  they  recognized 
Jack  Hamlin.  When  they  reached  the  spot 
where  he  had  halted,  they  could  see  that  he 
must  have  approached  it  from  the  trail 
where  they  had  previously  seen  him,  but 
which  they  now  found  crossed  it  at  right 
angles.  Barker  was  right.  He  had  really 
kept  them  at  easy  distance  the  whole  length 
of  the  journey. 

But  they  were  now  reaching  its  end. 
When  they  issued  at  last  from  the  arroyo 
they  came  upon  the  outskirts  of  Boomville 
and  the  great  stage-road.  Indeed,  the  six 
horses  of  the  Pioneer  coach  were  just  pant 
ing  along  the  last  half  mile  of  the  steep  up 
grade  as  they  approached.  They  halted 
mechanically  as  the  heavy  vehicle  swayed 
and  creaked  by  them.  In  their  ordinary 
working  dress,  sunburnt  with  exposure,  cov- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  61 

ered  with  dust,  and  carrying  their  rifles  still 
in  their  hands,  they,  perhaps,  presented  a 
sufficiently  characteristic  appearance  to  draw 
a  few  faces  —  some  of  them  pretty  and  in 
telligent  —  to  the  windows  of  the  coach  as  it 
passed.  The  sensitive  Barker  was  quickest 
to  feel  that  resentment  with  which  the 
Pioneer  usually  met  the  wide-eyed  criticism 
of  the  Eastern  tourist  or  "  greenhorn,"  and 
reddened  under  the  bold  scrutiny  of  a  pair 
of  black  inquisitive  eyes  behind  an  eyeglass. 
That  annoyance  was  communicated,  though 
in  a  lesser  degree,  even  to  the  bearded  De- 
morest  and  Stacy.  It  was  an  unexpected 
contact  with  that  great  world  in  which  they 
were  so  soon  to  enter.  They  felt  ashamed 
of  their  appearance,  and  yet  ashamed  of  that 
feeling.  They  felt  a  secret  satisfaction  when 
Barker  said,  "  They  'd  open  their  eyes  wider 
if  they  knew  what  was  in  that  pack-saddle," 
and  yet  they  corrected  him  for  what  they 
were  pleased  to  call  his  "  snobbishness." 
They  hurried  a  little  faster  as  the  road  be 
came  more  frequented,  as  if  eager  to  shorten 
their  distance  to  clean  clothes  and  civiliza 
tion. 

Only  Demorest   began   to   linger  in  the 


62  THREE  PAETNEES. 

rear.  This  contact  with  the  stagecoach  had 
again  brought  him  face  to  face  with  his 
buried  past.  He  felt  his  old  dream  revive, 
and  occasionally  turned  to  look  back  upon 
the  dark  outlines  of  Black  Spur,  under 
whose  shadow  it  had  returned  so  often,  and 
wondered  if  he  had  left  it  there  forever, 
and  it  were  now  slowly  exhaling  with  the 
thinned  and  dying  smoke  of  their  burning 
cabin. 

His  companions,  knowing  his  silent  moods, 
had  preceded  him  at  some  distance,  when  he 
heard  the  soft  sound  of  ambling  hoofs  on 
the  thick  dust,  and  suddenly  the  light  touch 
of  Jack  Hamlin's  gauntlet  on  his  shoulder. 
The  mustang  Jack  bestrode  was  reeking 
with  grime  and  sweat,  but  Jack  himself  was 
as  immaculate  and  fresh  as  ever.  With  a 
delightful  affectation  of  embarrassment  and 
timidity  he  began  flicking  the  side  buttons 
of  his  velvet  vaquero  trousers  with  the  thong 
of  his  riata.  "  I  reckoned  to  sling  a  word 
along  with  you  before  you  went,"  he  said, 
looking  down,  "  but  I  'm  so  shy  that  I 
could  n't  do  it  in  company.  So  I  thought 
I  'd  get  it  off  on  you  while  you  were  alone." 

"  We  've  seen  you  once  or  twice  before, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  63 

this  morning,"  said  Demorest  pleasantly, 
"  and  we  were  sorry  you  did  n't  join  us." 

"  I  reckon  I  might  have,"  said  Jack  gayly, 
"  if  my  horse  had  only  made  up  his  mind 
whether  he  was  a  bird  or  a  squirrel,  and 
had  n't  been  so  various  and  promiscuous 
about  whether  he  wanted  to  climb  a  tree  or 
fly.  He  's  not  a  bad  horse  for  a  Mexican 
plug,  only  when  he  thinks  there  is  any  devil 
ment  around  he  wants  to  wade  in  and  take 
a  hand.  However,  I  reckoned  to  see  the 
last  of  you  and  your  pile  into  Boomville. 
And  I  did.  When  I  meet  three  fellows 
like  you  that  are  clean  white  all  through  I 
sort  of  cotton  to  'em,  even  if  /  'm  a  little  of 
a  brunette  myself.  And  I  've  got  something 
to  give  you." 

He  took  from  a  fold  of  his  scarlet  sash  a 
small  parcel  neatly  folded  in  white  paper  as 
fresh  and  spotless  as  himself.  Holding  it  in 
his  fingers,  he  went  011 :  "  I  happened  to  be 
at  Heavy  Tree  Hill  early  this  morning  be 
fore  sun-up.  In  the  darkness  I  struck  your 
cabin,  and  I  reckon  —  I  struck  somebody 
else  !  At  first  I  thought  it  was  one  of  you 
chaps  down  on  your  knees  praying  at  the 
rear  of  the  cabin,  but  the  way  the  fellow  lit 


64  THREE  PARTNERS. 

out  when  he  smelt  me  coming  made  me  think 
it  was  n't  entirely  fasting  and  prayer.  How 
ever,  I  went  to  the  rear  of  the  cabin,  and 
then  I  reckoned  some  kind  friend  had  been 
bringing  you  kindlings  and  firewood  for 
your  early  breakfast.  But  that  did  n't  sat 
isfy  me,  so  I  knelt  down  as  he  had  knelt, 
and  then  I  saw — well,  Mr.  Demorest,  I 
reckon  I  saw  just  what  you  have  seen  !  But 
even  then  I  was  n't  quite  satisfied,  for  that 
man  had  been  grubbing  round  as  if  search 
ing  for  something.  So  I  searched  too  —  and 
I  found  it.  I  've  got  it  here.  I  'm  going  to 
give  it  to  you,  for  it  may  some  day  come  in 
handy,  and  you  won't  find  anything  like  it 
among  the  folks  where  you  're  going.  It 's 
something  unique,  as  those  fine-art-collect 
ing  sharps  in  'Frisco  say  —  something  quite 
matchless,  unless  you  try  to  match  it  one 
day  yourself !  Don't  open  the  paper  until  I 
run  on  and  say  '  So  long  '  to  your  partners. 
Good-by." 

He  grasped  Demorest's  hand  and  then 
dropped  the  little  packet  into  his  palm,  and 
ambled  away  towards  Stacy  and  Barker. 
Holding  the  packet  in  his  hand  with  an 
amused  yet  puzzled  smile,  Demorest  watched 


THREE  PARTNERS.  65 

the  gambler  give  Stacy's  hand  a  hearty  fare 
well  shake  and  a  supplementary  slap  on  the 
back  to  the  delighted  Barker,  and  then  van 
ish  in  a  flash  of  red  sash  and  silver  buttons. 
At  which  Demorest,  walking  slowly  towards 
his  partners,  opened  the  packet,  and  stood 
suddenly  still.  It  contained  the  dried  and 
bloodless  second  finger  of  a  human  hand  cut 
off  at  the  first  joint ! 

For  an  instant  he  held  it  at  arm's  length, 
as  if  about  to  cast  it  away.  Then  he  grimly 
replaced  it  in  the  paper,  put  it  carefully  in 
his  pocket,  and  silently  walked  after  his  com 
panions. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  STRONG  southwester  was  beating  against 
the  windows  and  doors  of  Stacy's  Bank  in 
San  Francisco,  and  spreading  a  film  of  rain 
between  the  regular  splendors  of  its  mahog 
any  counters  and  sprucely  dressed  clerks 
and  the  usual  passing  pedestrian.  For 
Stacy's  new  banking-house  had  long  since 
received  the  epithet  of  "  palatial "  from  an 
enthusiastic  local  press  fresh  from  the 
"  opening  "  luncheon  in  its  richly  decorated 
directors'  rooms,  and  it  was  said  that  once 
a  homely  would  -  be  depositor  from  One 
Horse  Gulch  was  so  cowed  by  its  magnifi 
cence  that  his  heart  failed  him  at  the  last 
moment,  and  mumbling  an  apology  to  the 
elegant  receiving  teller,  fled  with  his  greasy 
chamois  pouch  of  gold-dust  to  deposit  his 
treasure  in  the  dingy  Mint  around  the  cor 
ner.  Perhaps  there  was  something  of  this 
feeling,  mingled  with  a  certain  simple-minded 
fascination,  in  the  hesitation  of  a  stranger 


TREES  PAETNEES.  67 

of  a  higher  class  who  entered  the  bank  that 
rainy  morning  and  finally  tendered  his  card 
to  the  important  negro  messenger. 

The  card  preceded  him  through  noiselessly 
swinging  doors  and  across  heavily  carpeted 
passages  until  it  reached  the  inner  core  of 
Mr.  James  Stacy's  private  offices,  and  was 
respectfully  laid  before  him.  He  was  not 
alone.  At  his  side,  in  an  attitude  of  polite 
and  studied  expectancy,  stood  a  correct-look 
ing  young  man,  for  whom  Mr.  Stacy  was 
evidently  writing  a  memorandum.  The 
stranger  glanced  furtively  at  the  card  with 
a  curiosity  hardly  in  keeping  with  his  sug 
gested  good  breeding ;  but  Stacy  did  not 
look  at  it  until  he  had  finished  his  memo 
randum. 

"There,"  he  said,  with  business  decision, 
"  you  can  tell  your  people  that  if  we  carry 
their  new  debentures  over  our  limit  we  will 
expect  a  larger  margin.  Ditches  are  not 
what  they  were  three  years  ago  when  miners 
were  willing  to  waste  their  money  over  your 
rates.  They  don't  gamble  that  way  any 
more,  and  your  company  ought  to  know  it, 
and  not  gamble  themselves  over  that  pro 
spect."  He  handed  the  paper  to  the  stranger, 


68  THREE  PARTNERS. 

who  bowed  over  it  with  studied  politeness, 
and  backed  towards  the  door.  Stacy  took 
up  the  waiting  card,  read  it,  said  to  the 
messenger,  "  Show  him  in,"  and  in  the  same 
breath  turned  to  his  guest:  "I  say,  Van 
Loo,  it 's  George  Barker  !  You  know  him." 

"  Yes,"  said  Van  Loo,  with  a  polite  hesi 
tation  as  he  halted  at  the  door.  "  He  was 
—  I  think  —  er  —  in  your  employ  at  Heavy 
Tree  Hill." 

"  Nonsense  !  He  was  my  partner.  And 
you  must  have  known  him  since  at  Boom- 
ville.  Come !  He  got  forty  shares  of  Ditch 
stock  —  through  you — at  110,  which  were 
worth  about  80 !  Somebody  must  have 
made  money  enough  by  it  to  remember 
him." 

"  I  was  only  speaking  of  him  socially," 
said  Van  Loo,  with  a  deprecating  smile. 
"You  know  he  married  a  young  woman — 
the  hotel-keeper's  daughter,  who  used  to 
wait  at  the  table  —  and  after  my  mother 
and  sister  came  out  to  keep  house  for  me  at 
Boomville  it  was  quite  impossible  for  me  to 
see  much  of  him,  for  he  seldom  went  out 
without  his  wife,  you  know." 

"  Yes,"   said  Stacy  dryly,  "  I  think  you 


THREE  PARTNERS.  69 

did  n't  like  his  marriage.  But  I  'm  glad 
your  disinclination  to  see  him  is  n't  on  ac 
count  of  that  deal  in  stocks." 

"  Oh  no,"  said  Van  Loo.  "  Good-by." 
But,  unfortunately,  in  the  next  passage 
he  came  upon  Barker,  who  with  a  cry  of 
unfeigned  pleasure,  none  the  less  sincere 
that  he  was  feeling  a  little  alien  in  these 
impressive  surroundings,  recognized  him. 
Nothing  could  exceed  Van  Loo's  protest  of 
delight  at  the  meeting  ;  nothing  his  equal 
desolation  at  the  fact  that  he  was  hastening 
to  another  engagement.  "  But  your  old 
partner,"  he  added,  with  a  smile,  "  is  wait 
ing  for  you  ;  he  has  just  received  your  card, 
and  I  should  be  only  keeping  you  from  him. 
So  glad  to  see  you  ;  you  're  looking  so  well. 
Good-by !  Good-by !  " 

Reassured,  Barker  no  longer  hesitated, 
but  dashed  with  his  old  impetuousness  into 
his  former  partner's  room.  Stacy,  already 
deeply  absorbed  in  other  business,  was  sitting 
with  his  back  towards  him,  and  Barker's 
arms  were  actually  encircling  his  neck 
before  the  astonished  and  half-angry  man 
looked  up.  But  when  his  eyes  met  the 
laughing  gray  ones  of  Barker  above  him  he 


70  THREE  PARTNERS. 

gently  disengaged  himself  with  a  quick  re 
turn  of  the  caress,  rose,  shut  the  door  of  an 
inner  office,  and  returning  pushed  Barker 
into  an  armchair  in  quite  the  old  suppres- 
sive  fashion  of  former  days.  Yes  ;  it  was 
the  same  Stacy  that  Barker  looked  at,  albeit 
his  brown  beard  was  now  closely  cropped 
around  his  determined  mouth  and  jaw  in  a 
kind  of  grave  decorum,  and  his  energetic 
limbs  already  attuned  to  the  rigor  of  clothes 
of  fashionable  cut  and  still  more  rigorous 
sombreness  of  color. 

"  Barker  boy,"  he  began,  with  the  familiar 
twinkle  in  his  keen  eyes  which  the  younger 
partner  remembered,  "  I  don't  encourage 
stag  dancing  among  my  young  men  during 
bank  hours,  and  you  '11  please  to  remember 
that  we  are  not  on  Heavy  Tree  Hill  " 

"  Where,"  broke  in  Barker  enthusiasti 
cally,  "  we  were  only  overlooked  by  the 
Black  Spur  Range  and  the  Sierran  snow- 
line  ;  where  the  nearest  voice  that  came  to 
you  was  quarter  of  a  mile  away  as  the  crow 
flies  and  nearly  a  mile  by  the  trail." 

"  And  was  generally  an  oath !  "  said 
Stacy.  "  But  you  're  in  San  Francisco  now. 
Where  are  you  stopping  ?  "  He  took  up  a 


THREE  PARTNERS.  71 

pencil  and  held  it  over  a  memorandum  pad 
awaitingly. 

"  At  the  Brook  House.     It 's  "  - 
"  Hold  on  !  '  Brook   House,'  "  Stacy  re 
peated  as  he  jotted  it  down.     "  And  for  how 
long  ?  " 

"  Oh,  a  day  or  two.   You  see,  Kitty  " 
Stacy  checked  him  with  a  movement  of 
his  pencil  in  the  air,  and  then  wrote  down, 
" '  Day  or  two.'     Wife  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  and  oh,  Stacy,  our  boy !  Ah  !  " 
he  went  on,  with  a  laugh,  knocking  aside 
the  remonstrating  pencil,  "  you  must  listen  ! 
He 's  just  the  sweetest,  knowingest  little 
chap  living.  Do  you  know  what  we  're  go 
ing  to  christen  him  ?  Well,  he  '11  be  Stacy 
Demorest  Barker.  Good  names,  aren't 
they  ?  And  then  it  perpetuates  the  dear 
old  friendship." 

Stacy  picked  up  the  pencil  again,  wrote 
"Wife  and  child  S.  D.  B., "  and  leaned 
back  in  his  chair.  "  Now,  Barker,"  he  said 
briefly,  "  I  'm  coming  to  dine  with  you  to 
night  at  7.30  sharp.  Then  we'll  talk 
Heavy  Tree  Hill,  wife,  baby,  and  S.  D.  B. 
But  here  I  'm  all  for  business.  Have  you 
any  with  me  ?  " 


72  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Barker,  who  was  easily  amused,  had  ex 
tracted  a  certain  entertainment  out  of  Stacy's 
memorandum,  but  he  straightened  himself 
with  a  look  of  eager  confidence  and  said, 
"  Certainly  ;  that 's  just  what  it  is  —  busi 
ness.  Lord !  Stacy,  I  'm  all  business  now. 
I  'm  in  everything.  And  I  bank  with  you, 
though  perhaps  you  don't  know  it ;  it 's  in 
your  Branch  at  Marysville.  I  did  n't  want 
to  say  anything  about  it  to  you  before.  But 
Lord !  you  don't  suppose  that  I  'd  bank 
anywhere  else  while  you  are  in  the  business 
—  checks,  dividends,  and  all  that ;  but  in 
this  matter  I  felt  you  knew,  old  chap.  I 
did  n't  want  to  talk  to  a  banker  nor  to  a 
bank,  but  to  Jim  Stacy,  my  old  partner." 

"  Barker,"  said  Stacy  curtly,  "  how  much 
money  are  you  short  of  ?  " 

At  this  direct  question  Barker's  always 
quick  color  rose,  but,  with  an  equally  quick 
smile,  he  said,  "  I  don't  know  yet  that  I  'm 
short  at  all." 

"But /do!" 

"  Look  here,  Jim  :  why,  I  'm  just  over 
loaded  with  shares  and  stocks,"  said  Barker, 
smiling. 

"  Not  one  of  which  you  could  realize  on 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  73 

without  sacrifice.  Barker,  three  years  ago 
you  had  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  put 
to  your  account  at  San  Francisco." 

"  Yes,"  said  Barker,  with  a  quiet  reminis 
cent  laugh.  "  I  remember  I  wanted  to  draw 
it  out  in  one  check  to  see  how  it  would  look." 

"  And  you  've  drawn  out  all  in  three 
years,  and  it  looks  d — d  bad." 

"  How  did  you  know  it  ?  "  asked  Barker, 
his  face  beaming  only  with  admiration  of 
his  companion's  omniscience. 

"  How  did  I  know  it  ?  "  retorted  Stacy. 
"  I  know  you,  and  I  know  the  kind  of  peo 
ple  who  have  unloaded  to  you." 

"  Come,  Stacy,"  said  Barker,  "  I  've  only 
invested  in  shares  and  stocks  like  every 
body  else,  and  then  only  on  the  best  advice 
I  could  get:  like  Van  Loo's,  for  instance, 
—  that  man  who  was  here  just  now,  the  new 
manager  of  the  Empire  Ditch  Company ; 
and  Carter's,  my  own  Kitty's  father.  And 
when  I  was  offered  fifty  thousand  Wide 
West  Extensions,  and  was  hesitating  over 
it,  he  told  me  you  were  in  it  too  —  and  that 
was  enough  for  me  to  buy  it." 

"  Yes,  but  we  did  n't  go  into  it  at  his 
figures." 


74  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  No,"  said  Barker,  with  an  eager  smile, 
"but  you  sold  at  his  figures,  for  I  knew 
that  when  I  found  that  you,  my  old  part 
ner,  was  in  it ;  don't  you  see,  I  preferred  to 
buy  it  through  your  bank,  and  did  at  110. 
Of  course,  you  would  n't  have  sold  it  at 
that  figure  if  it  was  n't  worth  it  then,  and 
neither  I  nor  you  are  to  blame  if  it  dropped 
the  next  week  to  60,  don't  you  see  ?  " 

Stacy's  eyes  hardened  for  a  moment  as 
he  looked  keenly  into  his  former  partner's 
bright  gray  ones,  but  there  was  no  trace 
of  irony  in  Barker's.  On  the  contrary,  a 
slight  shade  of  sadness  came  over  them. 
"  No,"  he  said  reflectively,  "  I  don't  think 
I  've  ever  been  foolish  or  followed  out  my 
own  ideas,  except  once,  and  that  was  extra 
vagant,  I  admit.  That  was  my  idea  of  build 
ing  a  kind  of  refuge,  you  know,  on  the  site 
of  our  old  cabin,  where  poor  miners  and 
played-out  prospectors  waiting  for  a  strike 
could  stay  without  paying  anything.  Well, 
I  sunk  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  that,  and 
might  have  lost  more,  only  Carter  —  Kitty's 
father  —  persuaded  me  —  he 's  an  awful 
clever  old  fellow  —  into  turning  it  into  a 
kind  of  branch  hotel  of  Boomville,  while 


THREE  PARTNERS.  75 

using  it  as  a  hotel  to  take  poor  chaps  who 
could  n't  pay,  at  half  prices,  or  quarter 
prices,  privately,  don't  you  see,  so  as  to 
spare  their  pride,  —  awfully  pretty,  was  n't 
it  ?  —  and  make  the  hotel  profit  by  it." 

"  Well  ?  "  said  Stacy  as  Barker  paused. 

"  They  did  n't  come,"  said  Barker. 
"  But,"  he  added  eagerly,  "  it  shows  that 
things  were  better  than  I  had  imagined. 
Only  the  others  did  not  come,  either." 

"  And  you  lost  your  twenty  thousand 
dollars,"  said  Stacy  curtly. 

"  Fifty  thousand,"  said  Barker,  "  for  of 
course  it  had  to  be  a  larger  hotel  than  the 
other.  And  I  think  that  Carter  would  n't 
have  gone  into  it  except  to  save  me  from 
losing  money." 

"  And  yet  made  you  lose  fifty  thousand 
instead  of  twenty.  For  I  don't  suppose  he 
advanced  anything." 

"  He  gave  his  time  and  experience,"  said 
Barker  simply. 

"  I  don't  think  it  worth  thirty  thousand 
dollars,"  said  Stacy  dryly.  "  But  all  this 
does  n't  tell  me  what  your  business  is  with 
me  to-day." 

"  No,"  said  Barker,  brightening  up,  "  but 


76  THREE  PARTNERS. 

it  is  business,  you  know.  Something  in  the 
old  style  —  as  between  partner  and  partner 
—  and  that 's  why  I  came  to  you,  and  not 
to  the  '  banker.'  And  it  all  comes  out  of 
something  that  Demorest  once  told  us  ;  so 
you  see  it 's  all  us  three  again !  Well,  you 
know,  of  course,  that  the  Excelsior  Ditch 
Company  have  abandoned  the  Bar  and 
Heavy  Tree  HiU.  It  did  n't  pay." 

"  Yes ;  nor  does  the  company  pay  any 
dividends  now.  You  ought  to  know,  with 
fifty  thousand  of  their  stock  on  your  hands." 

Barker  laughed.  "  But  listen.  I  found 
that  I  could  buy  up  their  whole  plant  and 
all  the  ditching  along  the  Black  Spur  Range 
for  ten  thousand  dollars." 

"  And  Great  Scott !  you  don't  think  of 
taking  up  their  business  ?  "  said  Stacy, 
aghast. 

Barker  laughed  more  heartily.  "  No. 
Not  their  business.  But  I  remember  that 
once  Demorest  told  us,  in  the  deaf  old  days, 
that  it  cost  nearly  as  much  to  make  a  water 
ditch  as  a  railroad,  in  the  way  of  surveying 
and  engineering  and  levels,  you  know.  And 
here  's  the  plant  for  a  railroad.  Don't  you 
see  ?  " 


THREE  PARTNERS.  77 

"  But  a  railroad  from  Black  Spur  to 
Heavy  Tree  Hill  —  what  's  the  good  of 
that?" 

"  Why,  Black  Spur  will  be  in  the  line  of 
the  new  Divide  Kailroad  they  're  trying  to 
get  a  bill  for  in  the  legislature." 

"  An  infamous  piece  of  wildcat  jobbing 
that  will  never  pass,"  said  Stacy  decisively. 

"  They  said  because  it  was  that,  it  would 
pass,"  said  Barker  simply.  "  They  say  that 
Watson's  Bank  is  in  it,  and  is  bound  to  get 
it  through.  And  as  that  is  a  rival  bank  of 
yours,  don't  you  see,  I  thought  that  if  we 
could  get  something  real  good  or  valuable 
out  of  it,  —  something  that  would  do  the 
Black  Spur  good,  —  it  would  be  all  right." 

"  And  was  your  business  to  consult  me 
about  it  ?  "  said  Stacy  bluntly. 

"  No,"  said  Barker,  "  it 's  too  late  to  con 
sult  you  now,  though  I  wish  I  had.  I  Ve 
given  my  word  to  take  it,  and  I  can't  back 
out.  But  I  have  n't  the  ten  thousand  dol 
lars,  and  I  came  to  you." 

Stacy  slowly  settled  himself  back  in  his 
chair,  and  put  both  hands  in  his  pockets. 
"  Not  a  cent,  Barker,  not  a  cent." 

"  I 'm  not  asking  it  of  the  bank"  said 


78  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Barker,  with  a  smile,  "  for  I  could  have 
gone  to  the  bank  for  it.  But  as  this  was 
something  between  us,  I  am  asking  you, 
Stacy,  as  my  old  partner." 

"  And  I  am  answering  you,  Barker,  as 
your  old  partner,  but  also  as  the  partner 
of  a  hundred  other  men,  who  have  even  a 
greater  right  to  ask  me.  And  my  answer 
is,  not  a  cent !  " 

Barker  looked  at  him  with  a  pale,  aston 
ished  face  and  slightly  parted  lips.  Stacy 
rose,  thrust  his  hands  deeper  in  his  pockets, 
and  standing  before  him  went  on :  — 

"  Now  look  here  !  It 's  time  you  should 
understand  me  and  yourself.  Three  years 
ago,  when  our  partnership  was  dissolved 
by  accident,  or  mutual  consent,  we  will  say, 
we  started  afresh,  each  on  our  own  hook. 
Through  foolishness  and  bad  advice  you 
have  in  those  three  years  hopelessly  involved 
yourself  as  you  never  would  have  done  had 
we  been  partners,  and  yet  in  your  difficulty 
you  ask  me  and  my  new  partners  to  help 
you  out  of  a  difficulty  in  which  they  have 
no  concern." 

"  Your  new  partners  ?  "  stammered 
Barker. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  79 

"  Yes,  my  new  partners  ;  for  every  man 
who  has  a  share,  or  a  deposit,  or  an  interest, 
or  a  dollar  in  this  bank  is  my  partner  — 
even  you,  with  your  securities  at  the  Branch, 
are  one ;  and  you  may  say  that  in  this  I  am 
protecting  you  against  yourself." 

"  But  you  have  money  —  you  have  private 
means." 

"  None  to  speculate  with  as  you  wish  me 
to  —  on  account  of  my  position  ;  none  to 
give  away  foolishly  as  you  expect  me  to  — 
on  account  of  precedent  and  example.  I 
am  a  soulless  machine  taking  care  of  capital 
intrusted  to  me  and  my  brains,  but  de 
cidedly  not  to  my  heart  nor  my  sentiment. 
So  my  answer  is,  not  a  cent !  " 

Barker's  face  had  changed ;  his  color  had 
come  back,  but  with  an  older  expression. 
Presently,  however,  his  beaming  smile  re 
turned,  with  the  additional  suggestion  of  an 
affectionate  toleration  which  puzzled  Stacy. 

"  I  believe  you  're  right,  old  chap,"  he 
said,  extending  his  hand  to  the  banker,  "  and 
I  wish  I  had  talked  to  you  before.  But  it 's 
too  late  now,  and  I  've  given  my  word." 

"  Your  word!  "  said  Stacy.  "  Have  you 
no  written  agreement?" 


80  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  No.  My  word  was  accepted."  He 
blushed  slightly  as  if  conscious  of  a  great 
weakness. 

"  But  that  is  n't  legal  nor  business.  And 
you  could  n't  even  hold  the  Ditch  Company 
to  it  if  they  chose  to  back  out." 

"  But  I  don't  think  they  will,"  said  Barker 
simply.  "  And  you  see  my  word  was  n't 
given  entirely  to  them.  I  bought  the  thing 
through  my  wife's  cousin,  Henry  Spring,  a 
broker,  and  he  makes  something  by  it,  from 
the  company,  on  commission.  And  I  can't 
go  back  on  him.  What  did  you  say  ?  " 

Stacy  had  only  groaned  through  his  set 
teeth.  "  Nothing,"  he  said  briefly,  "  except 
that  I  'm  coining,  as  I  said  before,  to  dine 
with  you  to-night ;  but  no  more  business. 
I  've  enough  of  that  with  others,  and  there 
are  some  waiting  for  me  in  the  outer  office 
now." 

Barker  rose  at  once,  but  with  the  same 
affectionate  smile  and  tender  gravity  of  coun 
tenance,  and  laid  his  hand  caressingly  on 
Stacy's  shoulder.  "  It  's  like  you  to  give  up 
so  much  of  your  time  to  me  and  my  foolish 
ness  and  be  so  frank  with  me.  And  I  know 
it 's  mighty  rough  on  you  to  have  to  be  a 


THREE  PARTNERS.  81 

mere  machine  instead  of  Jim  Stacy.  Don't 
you  bother  about  me.  I  '11  sell  some  of  my 
Wide  West  Extension  and  pull  the  thing 
through  myself.  It 's  all  right,  but  I  'm  sorry 
for  you,  old  chap."  He  glanced  around  the 
room  at  the  walls  and  rich  paneling,  and 
added,  "  I  suppose  that 's  what  you  have  to 
pay  for  all  this  sort  of  thing  ?  " 

Before  Stacy  could  reply,  a  waiting  visi 
tor  was  announced  for  the  second  time,  and 
Barker,  with  another  hand-shake  and  a  reas 
suring  smile  to  his  old  partner,  passed  into 
the  hall,  as  if  the  onus  of  any  infelicity  in 
the  interview  was  upon  himself  alone.  But 
Stacy  did  not  seem  to  be  in  a  particularly 
accessible  mood  to  the  new  caller,  who  in 
his  turn  appeared  to  be  slightly  irritated  by 
having  been  kept  waiting  over  some  irksome 
business.  "  You  don't  seem  to  follow  me,"  he 
said  to  Stacy  after  reciting  his  business  per 
plexity.  "  Can't  you  suggest  something?  " 

"  Well,  why  don't  you  get  hold  of  one  of 
your  board  of  directors  ?  "  said  Stacy  ab 
stractedly.  "  There  's  Captain  Drummond  ; 
you  and  he  are  old  friends.  You  were  com 
rades  in  the  Mexican  War,  were  n't  you  ?  " 

"  That  be  d — d !  "  said  his  visitor  bitterly. 


82  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  All  his  interests  are  the  other  way,  and  in 
a  trade  of  this  kind,  you  know,  Stacy,  that 
a  man  would  sacrifice  his  own  brother.  Do 
you  suppose  that  he  'd  let  up  on  a  sure  thing 
that  he  's  got  just  because  he  and  I  fought 
side  by  side  at  Cerro  Gordo  ?  Come  !  what 
are  you  giving  us  ?  You  're  the  last  man  I 
ever  expected  to  hear  that  kind  of  flapdoodle 
from.  If  it's  because  your  bank  has  got 
some  other  interest  and  you  can't  advise  me, 
why  don't  you  say  so  ?  "  Nevertheless,  in 
spite  of  Stacy's  abrupt  disclaimer,  he  left 
a  few  minutes  later,  half  convinced  that 
Stacy's  lukewarmness  was  due  to  some  ad 
verse  influence.  Other  callers  were  almost 
as  quickly  disposed  of,  and  at  the  end  of  an 
hour  Stacy  found  himself  again  alone. 

But  not  apparently  in  a  very  satisfied 
mood.  After  a  few  moments  of  purely  me 
chanical  memoranda-making,  he  rose  abruptly 
and  opened  a  small  drawer  in  a  cabinet,  from 
which  he  took  a  letter  still  in  its  envelope. 
It  bore  a  foreign  postmark.  Glancing  over 
it  hastily,  his  eyes  at  last  became  fixed  on  a 
concluding  paragraph.  "  I  hope,"  wrote  his 
correspondent,  "that  even  in  the  rush  of 
your  big  business  you  will  sometimes  look 


THREE  PARTNERS.  83 

after  Barker.  Not  that  I  think  the  dear  old 
chap  will  ever  go  wrong  —  indeed,  I  often 
wish  I  was  as  certain  of  myself  as  of  him 
and  his  insight ;  but  I  am  afraid  we  were 
more  inclined  to  be  merely  amused  and  tol 
erant  of  his  wonderful  trust  and  simplicity 
than  to  really  understand  it  for  his  own  good 
and  ours.  I  know  you  did  not  like  his  mar 
riage,  and  were  inclined  to  believe  he  was  the 
victim  of  a  rather  unscrupulous  father  and  a 
foolish,  unequal  girl;  but  are  you  satisfied 
that  he  would  have  been  the  happier  without 
it,  or  lived  his  perfect  life  under  other  and 
what  you  may  think  wiser  conditions  ?  If 
he  wrote  the  poetry  that  he  lives  everybody 
would  think  him  wonderful ;  for  being  what 
he  is  we  never  give  him  sufficient  credit." 
Stacy  smiled  grimly,  and  penciled  on  his 
memorandum,  "  He  wants  it  to  the  amount 
of  ten  thousand  dollars."  "  Anyhow,"  con 
tinued  the  writer,  "  look  after  him,  Jim,  for 
his  sake,  your  sake,  and  the  sake  of  —  PHIL 
DEMOREST." 

Stacy  put  the  letter  back  in  its  envelope, 
and  tossing  it  grimly  aside  went  on  with  his 
calculations.  Presently  he  stopped,  restored 
the  letter  to  his  cabinet,  and  rang  a  bell  on 


84  THREE  PARTNERS. 

his  table.  "  Send  Mr.  North  here,"  he  said 
to  the  negro  messenger.  In  a  few  moments 
his  chief  book-keeper  appeared  in  the  door 
way. 

"  Turn  to  the  Branch  ledger  and  bring 
me  a  statement  of  Mr.  George  Barker's 
account." 

"He  was  here  a  moment  ago,"  said 
North,  essaying  a  confidential  look  towards 
his  chief. 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Stacy  coolly,  without 
looking  up. 

"  He 's  been  running  a  good  deal  on  wild 
cat  lately,"  suggested  North. 

"  I  asked  for  his  account,  and  not  your 
opinion  of  it,"  said  Stacy  shortly. 

The  subordinate  withdrew  somewhat 
abashed  but  still  curious,  and  returned  pre 
sently  with  a  ledger  which  he  laid  before  his 
chief.  Stacy  ran  his  eyes  over  the  list  of 
Barker's  securities;  it  seemed  to  him  that 
all  the  wildest  schemes  of  the  past  year 
stared  him  in  the  face.  His  finger,  how 
ever,  stopped  on  the  Wide  West  Extension. 
"  Mr.  Barker  will  be  wanting  to  sell  some 
of  this  stock.  What  is  it  quoted  at  now  ?  " 

"  Sixty." 


THREE  PAETNEES.  85 

"But  I  would  prefer  that  Mr.  Barker 
should  not  offer  in  the  open  market  at  pre 
sent.  Give  him  seventy  for  it  —  private 
sale  ;  that  will  be  ten  thousand  dollars  paid 
to  his  credit.  Advise  the  Branch  of  this  at 
once,  and  to  keep  the  transaction  quiet." 

"Yes,  sir,"  responded  the  clerk  as  he 
moved  towards  the  door.  But  he  hesitated, 
and  with  another  essay  at  confidence  said 
insinuatingly,  "  I  always  thought,  sir,  that 
Wide  West  would  recover." 

Stacy,  perhaps  not  displeased  to  find  what 
had  evidently  passed  in  his  subordinate's 
mind,  looked  at  him  and  said  dryly,  "  Then  I 
would  advise  you  also  to  keep  that  opinion 
to  yourself."  But,  clever  as  he  was,  he  had 
not  anticipated  the  result.  Mr.  North, 
though  a  trusted  employee,  was  human.  On 
arriving  in  the  outer  office  he  beckoned  to 
one  of  the  lounging  brokers,  and  in  a  low 
voice  said,  "  I  '11  take  two  shares  of  Wide 
West,  if  you  can  get  it  cheap." 

The  broker's  face  became  alert  and  eager. 
"  Yes,  but  I  say,  is  anything  up  ?  " 

"  I  'm  not  here  to  give  the  business  of  the 
bank  away,"  retorted  North  severely ;  "  take 
the  order  or  leave  it." 


86  THREE  PARTNERS. 

The  man  hurried  away.  Having  thus 
vindicated  his  humanity  by  also  passing  the 
snub  he  had  received  from  Stacy  to  an  in 
ferior,  he  turned  away  to  carry  out  his  mas 
ter's  instructions,  yet  secure  in  the  belief 
that  he  had  profited  by  his  superior  discern 
ment  of  the  real  reason  of  that  master's  sin 
gular  conduct.  But  when  he  returned  to  the 
private  room,  in  hopes  of  further  revelations, 
Mr.  Stacy  was  closeted  with  another  finan 
cial  magnate,  and  had  apparently  divested 
his  mind  of  the  whole  affair. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHEN  George  Barker  returned  to  the 
outer  ward  of  the  financial  stronghold  he 
had  penetrated,  with  its  curving  sweep  of 
counters,  brass  railings,  and  wirework  screens 
defended  by  the  spruce  clerks  behind  them,  he 
was  again  impressed  with  the  position  of  the 
man  he  had  just  quitted,  and  for  a  moment 
hesitated,  with  an  inclination  to  go  back. 
It  was  with  no  idea  of  making  a  further 
appeal  to  his  old  comrade,  but  —  what  would 
have  been  odd  in  any  other  nature  but  his 
—  he  was  affected  by  a  sense  that  he  might 
have  been  unfair  and  selfish  in  his  manner 
to  the  man  panoplied  by  these  defenses,  and 
who  was  in  a  measure  forced  to  be  a  part 
of  them.  He  would  like  to  have  returned 
and  condoled  with  him.  The  clerks,  who 
were  heartlessly  familiar  with  the  anxious 
bearing  of  the  men  who  sought  interviews 
with  their  chief,  both  before  and  after,  smiled 
with  the  whispered  conviction  that  the  fresh 


88  THESE  PABTNERS. 

and  ingenuous  young  stranger  had  been 
"  chucked "  like  others  until  they  met  his 
kindly,  tolerant,  and  even  superior  eyes,  and 
were  puzzled.  Meanwhile  Barker,  who  had 
that  sublime,  natural  quality  of  abstraction 
over  small  impertinences  which  is  more  ex 
asperating  than  studied  indifference,  after 
his  brief  hesitation  passed  out  unconcernedly 
through  the  swinging  mahogany  doors  into 
the  blowy  street.  Here  the  wind  and  rain 
revived  him ;  the  bank  and  its  curt  refusal 
were  forgotten  ;  he  walked  onward  with  only 
a  smiling  memory  of  his  partner  as  in  the 
old  days.  He  remembered  how  Stacy  had 
burned  down  their  old  cabin  rather  than 
have  it  fall  into  sordid  or  unworthy  hands 
—  this  Stacy  who  was  now  condemned  to 
sink  his  impulses  and  become  a  mere  ma 
chine.  He  had  never  known  Stacy's  real 
motive  for  that  act,  —  both  Demorest  and 
Stacy  had  kept  their  knowledge  of  the  at 
tempted  robbery  from  their  younger  part 
ner,  —  it  always  seemed  to  him  to  be  a  pre 
cious  revelation  of  Stacy's  inner  nature. 
Facing  the  wind  and  rain,  he  recalled  how 
Stacy,  though  never  so  enthusiastic  about 
his  marriage  as  Demorest,  had  taken  up  Van 


THREE  PARTNERS.  89 

Loo  sharply  for  some  foolish  sneer  about  his 
own  youthfulness.  He  was  affectionately 
tolerant  of  even  Stacy's  dislike  to  his  wife's 
relations,  for  Stacy  did  not  know  them  as  he 
did.  Indeed,  Barker,  whose  own  father  and 
mother  had  died  in  his  infancy,  had  accepted 
his  wife's  relations  with  a  loving  trust  and 
confidence  that  was  supreme,  from  the  fact 
that  he  had  never  known  any  other. 

At  last  he  reached  his  hotel.  It  was  a 
new  one,  the  latest  creation  of  a  feverish 
progress  in  hotel-building  which  had  covered 
five  years  and  as  many  squares  with  large 
showy  erections,  utterly  beyond  the  needs  of 
the  community,  yet  each  superior  in  size  and 
adornment  to  its  predecessor.  It  struck  him 
as  being  the  one  evidence  of  an  abiding  faith 
in  the  future  of  the  metropolis  that  he  had 
seen  in  nothing  else.  As  he  entered  its  fres 
coed  hall  that  afternoon  he  was  suddenly 
reminded,  by  its  challenging  opulency,  of 
the  bank  he  had  just  quitted,  without  know 
ing  that  the  bank  had  really  furnished  its 
capital  and  its  original  design.  The  gilded 
bar-rooms,  flashing  with  mirrors  and  cut 
glass  ;  the  saloons,  with  their  desert  expanse 
of  Turkey  carpet  and  oasis  of  clustered 


90  THREE  PARTNERS. 

divans  and  gilded  tables  ;  the  great  dining- 
room,  with  porphyry  columns,  and  walls  and 
ceilings  shining  with  allegory  —  all  these 
things  which  had  attracted  his  youthful  won 
der  without  distracting  his  correct  simplicity 
of  taste  he  now  began  to  comprehend.  It 
was  the  bank's  money  "  at  work."  In  the 
clatter  of  dishes  in  the  dining-room  he  even 
seemed  to  hear  again  the  chinking  of  coin. 

It  was  a  short  cut  to  his  apartments  to 
pass  through  a  smaller  public  sitting-room 
popularly  known  as  "  Flirtation  Camp," 
where  eight  or  ten  couples  generally  found 
refuge  on  chairs  and  settees  by  the  windows, 
half  concealed  by  heavy  curtains.  But  the 
occupants  were  by  no  means  youthful  spin 
sters  or  bachelors  ;  they  were  generally  mar 
ried  women,  guests  of  the  hotel,  receiving 
other  people's  husbands  whose  wives  were 
"  in  the  States,"  or  responsible  middle-aged 
leaders  of  the  town.  In  the  elaborate  toi 
lettes  of  the  women,  as  compared  with  the 
less  formal  business  suits  of  the  men,  there 
was  an  odd  mingling  of  the  social  attitude 
with  perhaps  more  mysterious  confidences. 
The  idle  gossip  about  them  had  never 
affected  Barker ;  rather  he  had  that  innate 


THREE  PARTNERS.  91 

respect  for  the  secrets  of  others  which  is  as 
inseparable  from  simplicity  as  it  is  from  high 
breeding,  and  he  scarcely  glanced  at  the  dif 
ferent  couples  in  his  progress  through  the 
room.  He  did  not  even  notice  a  rather 
striking  and  handsome  woman,  who,  sur 
rounded  by  two  or  three  admirers,  yet  looked 
up  at  Barker  as  he  passed  with  self-conscious 
lids  as  if  seeking  a  return  of  her  glance. 
But  he  moved  on  abstractedly,  and  only 
stopped  when  he  suddenly  saw  the  familiar 
skirt  of  his  wife  at  a  further  window,  and 
halted  before  it. 

"  Oh,  it 's  ?/ow,"  said  Mrs.  Barker,  with  a 
half-nervous,  half-impatient  laugh.  "  Why, 
I  thought  you  'd  certainly  stay  half  the  after 
noon  with  your  old  partner,  considering  that 
you  have  n't  met  for  three  years." 

There  was  no  doubt  she  had  thought  so  ; 
there  was  equally  no  doubt  that  the  con 
versation  she  was  carrying  on  with  her  com 
panion  —  a  good-looking,  portly  business 
man  —  was  effectually  interrupted.  But 
Barker  did  not  notice  it.  "  Captain  Heath, 
my  husband,"  she  went  on,  carelessly  rising 
and  smoothing  her  skirts.  The  captain, 
who  had  risen  too,  bowed  vaguely  at  the 


92  THREE  PAETNEES. 

introduction,  but  Barker  extended  his  hand 
frankly.  "  I  found  Stacy  busy,"  he  said  in 
answer  to  his  wife,  "  but  he  is  coming  to 
dine  with  us  to-night." 

"  If  you  mean  Jim  Stacy,  the  banker," 
said  Captain  Heath,  brightening  into  greater 
ease,  "  he  's  the  busiest  man  in  California. 
I  've  seen  men  standing  in  a  queue  outside 
his  door  as  in  the  old  days  at  the  post-office. 
And  he  only  gives  you  five  minutes  and  no 
extension.  So  you  and  he  were  partners 
once  ?  "  he  said,  looking  curiously  at  the  still 
youthful  Barker. 

But  it  was  Mrs.  Barker  who  answered, 
"  Oh  yes  !  and  always  such  good  friends. 
I  was  awfully  jealous  of  him."  Neverthe 
less,  she  did  not  respond  to  the  affectionate 
protest  in  Barker's  eyes  nor  to  the  laugh 
of  Captain  Heath,  but  glanced  indifferently 
around  the  room  as  if  to  leave  further  con 
versation  to  the  two  men.  It  was  possible 
that  she  was  beginning  to  feel  that  Captain 
Heath  was  as  de  trop  now  as  her  husband 
had  been  a  moment  before.  Standing  there, 
however,  between  them  both,  idly  tracing  a 
pattern  on  the  carpet  with  the  toe  of  her 
slipper,  she  looked  prettier  than  she  had 


THREE  PARTNERS.  93 

ever  looked  as  Kitty  Carter.  Her  slight 
figure  was  more  fully  developed.  That  arti 
ficial  severity  covering  a  natural  virgin  coy 
ness  with  which  she  used  to  wait  at  table  in 
her  father's  hotel  at  Boomville  had  gone, 
and  was  replaced  by  a  satisfied  conscious 
ness  of  her  power  to  please.  Her  glance 
was  freer,  but  not  as  frank  as  hi  those  days. 
Her  dress  was  undoubtedly  richer  and  more 
stylish ;  yet  Barker's  loyal  heart  often  re 
verted  fondly  to  the  chintz  gown,  coquet- 
tishly  frilled  apron,  and  spotless  cuffs  and 
collar  in  which  she  had  handed  him  his  cof 
fee  with  a  faint  color  that  left  his  own  face 
crimson. 

Captain  Heath's  tact  being  equal  to  her 
indifference,  he  had  excused  himself ,  although 
he  was  becoming  interested  in  this  youthful 
husband.  But  Mrs.  Barker,  after  having 
asserted  her  husband's  distinction  as  the 
equal  friend  of  the  millionaire,  was  by  no 
means  willing  that  the  captain  should  be 
further  interested  in  Barker  for  himself 
alone,  and  did  not  urge  him  to  stay.  As  he 
departed  she  turned  to  her  husband,  and, 
indicating  the  group  he  had  passed  the  mo 
ment  before,  said :  — 


94  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  That  horrid  woman  has  been  staring  at 
us  all  the  time.  I  don't  see  what  you  see 
in  her  to  admire." 

Poor  Barker's  admiration  had  been  limited 
to  a  few  words  of  civility  in  the  enforced 
contact  of  that  huge  caravansary  and  in  his 
quiet,  youthful  recognition  of  her  striking 
personality.  But  he  was  just  then  too  pre 
occupied  with  his  interview  with  Stacy  to 
reply,  and  perhaps  he  did  not  quite  under 
stand  his  wife.  It  was  odd  how  many 
things  he  did  not  quite  understand  now 
about  Kitty,  but  that  he  knew  must  be  his 
fault.  But  Mrs.  Barker  apparently  did  not 
require,  after  the  fashion  of  her  sex,  a  reply. 
For  the  next  moment,  as  they  moved  to 
wards  their  rooms,  she  said  impatiently, 
"  Well,  you  don't  tell  what  Stacy  said.  Did 
you  get  the  money  ?  " 

I  grieve  to  say  that  this  soul  of  truth  and 
frankness  lied  —  only  to  his  wife.  Perhaps 
he  considered  it  only  lying  to  himself,  a 
thing  of  which  he  was  at  times  miserably 
conscious.  "  It  was  n't  necessary,  dear,"  he 
said  ;  "  he  advised  me  to  sell  my  securities 
in  the  bank ;  and  if  you  only  knew  how 
dreadfully  busy  he  is." 


THREE  PARTNERS.  95 

Mrs.  Barker  curled  her  pretty  lip.  "  It 
does  n't  take  very  long  to  lend  ten  thousand 
dollars  !  "  she  said.  "  But  that 's  what  I 
always  tell  you.  You  have  about  made  me 
sick  by  singing  the  praises  of  those  wonder 
ful  partners  of  yours,  and  here  you  ask  a 
favor  of  one  of  them  and  he  tells  you  to  sell 
your  securities !  And  you  know,  and  he 
knows,  they  're  worth  next  to  nothing." 

"  You  don't  understand,  dear  "  —  began 
Barker. 

"  I  understand  that  you  've  given  your 
word  to  poor  Harry,"  said  Mrs.  Barker  in 
pretty  indignation,  "who's  responsible  for 
the  Ditch  purchase." 

"  And  I  shall  keep  it.  I  always  do,"  said 
Barker  very  quietly,  but  with  that  same  sin 
gular  expression  of  face  that  had  puzzled 
Stacy.  But  Mrs.  Barker,  who,  perhaps, 
knew  her  husband  better,  said  in  an  altered 
voice :  — 

"  But  how  can  you,  dear  ?  " 

"If  I  'm  short  a  thousand  or  two  I  '11  ask 
your  father." 

Mrs.  Barker  was  silent.  "  Father 's  so 
very  much  harried  now,  George.  Why  don't 
you  simply  throw  the  whole  thing  up  ?  " 


96  THESE  PARTNERS. 

"  But  I  've  given  my  word  to  your  cousin 
Henry." 

"Yes,  but  only  your  word.  There  was 
no  written  agreement.  And  you  could  n't 
even  hold  him  to  it." 

Barker  opened  his  frank  eyes  in  astonish 
ment.  Her  own  cousin,  too !  And  they 
were  Stacy's  very  words ! 

"  Besides,"  added  Mrs.  Barker  audaciously, 
"  he  could  get  rid  of  it  elsewhere.  He  had 
another  offer,  but  he  thought  yours  the  best. 
So  don't  be  silly." 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  their  rooms. 
Barker,  apparently  dismissing  the  subject 
from  his  mind  with  characteristic  buoyancy, 
turned  into  the  bedroom  and  walked  smil 
ingly  towards  a  small  crib  which  stood  in 
the  corner.  "  Why,  he  's  gone !  "  he  said 
in  some  dismay. 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Barker  a  little  impa 
tiently,  "  you  did  n't  expect  me  to  take  him 
into  the  public  parlor,  where  I  was  seeing 
visitors,  did  you  ?  I  sent  him  out  with  the 
nurse  into  the  lower  hall  to  play  with  the 
other  children." 

A  shade  momentarily  passed  over  Barker's 
face.  He  always  looked  forward  to  meeting 


THREE  PARTNERS.  97 

the  child  when  he  came  back.  He  had  a 
belief,  based  on  no  grounds  whatever,  that 
the  little  creature  understood  him.  And  he 
had  a  father's  doubt  of  the  wholesomeness 
of  other  people's  children  who  were  born 
into  the  world  indiscriminately  and  not  un 
der  the  exceptional  conditions  of  his  own. 
"  I  '11  go  and  fetch  him,"  he  said. 

"  You  have  n't  told  me  anything  about 
your  interview ;  what  you  did  and  what  your 
good  friend  Stacy  said,"  said  Mrs.  Barker, 
dropping  languidly  into  a  chair.  "  And 
really  if  you  are  simply  running  away  again 
after  that  child,  I  might  just  as  well  have 
asked  Captain  Heath  to  stay  longer." 

"Oh,  as  to  Stacy,"  said  Barker,  dropping 
beside  her  and  taking  her  hand ;  "  well,  dear, 
he  was  awfully  busy,  you  know,  and  shut  up 
in  the  innermost  office  like  the  agate  in  one 
of  the  Japanese  nests  of  boxes.  But,"  he 
continued,  brightening  up,  "just  the  same 
dear  old  Jim  Stacy  of  Heavy  Tree  Hill, 
when  I  first  knew  you.  Lord  !  dear,  how  it 
all  came  back  to  me  !  That  day  I  proposed 
to  you  in  the  belief  that  I  was  unexpectedly 
rich  and  even  bought  a  claim  for  the  boys 
on  the  strength  of  it,  and  how  I  came  back 


98  THREE  PARTNERS. 

to  them  to  find  that  they  had  made  a  big 
strike  on  the  very  claim.  Lord  !  I  remem 
ber  how  I  was  so  afraid  to  tell  them  about 
you — and  how  they  guessed  it  —  that  dear 
old  Stacy  one  of  the  first." 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Barker,  "and  I  hope 
your  friend  Stacy  remembered  that  but  for 
we,  when  you  found  out  that  you  were  not 
rich,  you  'd  have  given  up  the  claim,  but 
that  I  really  deceived  my  own  father  to 
make  you  keep  it.  I  've  often  worried  over 
that,  George,"  she  said  pensively,  turning 
a  diamond  bracelet  around  her  pretty  wrist, 
"  although  I  never  said  anything  about  it." 

"  But,  Kitty  darling,"  said  Barker,  grasp 
ing  his  wife's  hand,  "  I  gave  my  note  for  it ; 
you  know  you  said  that  was  bargain  enough, 
and  I  had  better  wait  until  the  note  was  due, 
and  until  I  found  I  could  n't  pay,  before  I 
gave  up  the  claim.  It  was  very  clever  of 
you,  and  the  boys  all  said  so,  too.  But  you 
never  deceived  your  father,  dear,"  he  said, 
looking  at  her  gravely,  "  for  I  should  have 
told  him  everything." 

"  Of  course,  if  you  look  at  it  in  that  way," 
said  his  wife  languidly,  "  it 's  nothing ;  only 
I  think  it  ought  to  be  remembered  when 


THREE  PARTNERS.  99 

people  go  about  saying  papa  ruined  you  with 
his  hotel  schemes." 

"  Who  dares  say  that  ?  "  said  Barker  in 
dignantly. 

"  Well,  if  they  don't  say  it  they  look  it," 
said  Mrs.  Barker,  with  a  toss  of  her  pretty 
head,  "  and  I  believe  that 's  at  the  bottom 
of  Stacy's  refusal." 

"  But  he  never  said  a  word,  Kitty,"  said 
Barker,  flushing. 

"  There,  don't  excite  yourself,  George," 
said  Mrs.  Barker  resignedly,  "  but  go  for 
the  baby.  I  know  you  're  dying  to  go,  and 
I  suppose  it 's  time  Norah  brought  it  up 
stairs." 

At  any  other  time  Barker  would  have 
lingered  with  explanations,  but  just  then  a 
deeper  sense  than  usual  of  some  misunder 
standing  made  him  anxious  to  shorten  this 
domestic  colloquy.  He  rose,  pressed  his 
wife's  hand,  and  went  out.  But  yet  he  was 
not  entirely  satisfied  with  himself  for  leaving 
her.  "  I  suppose  it  is  n't  right  my  going 
off  as  soon  as  I  come  in,"  he  murmured  re 
proachfully  to  himself,  "  but  I  think  she  wants 
the  baby  back  as  much  as  I ;  only,  woman 
like,  she  did  n't  care  to  let  me  know  it." 


100  THESE  PARTNERS. 

He  reached  the  lower  hall,  which  he  knew 
was  a  favorite  promenade  for  the  nurses 
who  were  gathered  at  the  farther  end,  where 
a  large  window  looked  upon  Montgomery- 
Street.  But  Norah,  the  Irish  nurse,  was 
not  among  them  ;  he  passed  through  several 
corridors  in  his  search,  but  in  vain.  At 
last,  worried  and  a  little  anxious,  he  turned 
to  regain  his  rooms  through  the  long  saloon 
where  he  had  found  his  wife  previously.  It 
was  deserted  now ;  the  last  caller  had  left  — 
even  frivolity  had  its  prescribed  limits.  He 
was  consequently  startled  by  a  gentle  mur 
mur  from  one  of  the  heavily  curtained 
window  recesses.  It  was  a  woman's  voice 

—  low,  sweet,  caressing,  and  filled  with  an 
almost   pathetic   tenderness.      And   it   was 
followed   by   a   distinct    gurgling    satisfied 
crow. 

Barker  turned  instantly  in  that  direction. 
A  step  brought  him  to  the  curtain,  where  a 
singular  spectacle  presented  itself. 

Seated  on  a  lounge,  completely  absorbed 
and  possessed  by  her  treasure,  was  the 
"  horrid  woman  "  whom  his  wife  had  indi 
cated  only  a  little  while  ago,  holding  a  baby 

—  Kitty's  sacred  baby  —  in  her  wanton  lap  ' 


THBEE  PARTNERS.  101 

The  child  was  feebly  grasping  the  end  of  the 
slender  jeweled  necklace  which  the  woman 
held  temptingly  dangling  from  a  thin  white 
jeweled  finger  above  it.  But  its  eyes  were 
beaming  with  an  intense  delight,  as  if  trying 
to  respond  to  the  deep,  concentrated  love  in 
the  handsome  face  that  was  bent  above  it. 

At  the  sudden  intrusion  of  Barker  she 
looked  up.  There  was  a  faint  rise  in  her 
color,  but  no  loss  of  self-possession. 

"  Please  don't  scold  the  nurse,"  she  said, 
"nor  say  anything  to  Mrs.  Barker.  It  is 
all  my  fault.  I  thought  that  both  the  nurse 
and  child  looked  dreadfully  bored  with  each 
other,  and  I  borrowed  the  little  fellow  for 
a  while  to  try  and  amuse  him.  At  least  I 
have  n't  made  him  cry,  have  I,  dear  ?  "  The 
last  epithet,  it  is  needless  to  say,  was  ad 
dressed  to  the  little  creature  in  her  lap,  but 
in  its  tender  modulation  it  touched  the  fa 
ther's  quick  sympathies  as  if  he  had  shared 
it  with  the  child.  "  You  see,"  she  said 
softly,  disengaging  the  baby  fingers  from 
her  necklace,  "  that  our  sex  is  not  the  only 
one  tempted  by  jewelry  and  glitter." 

Barker  hesitated ;  the  Madonna-like  devo 
tion  of  a  moment  ago  was  gone  ;  it  was  only 


102  THREE  PARTNERS. 

the  woman  of  the  world  who  laughingly 
looked  up  at  him.  Nevertheless  he  was 
touched.  "  Have  you  —  ever  —  had  a  child, 
Mrs.  Horncastle  ?  "  he  asked  gently  and  hes 
itatingly.  He  had  a  vague  recollection  that 
she  passed  for  a  widow,  and  in  his  simple 
eyes  all  women  were  virgins  or  married 
saints. 

"  No,"  she  said  abruptly.  Then  she  added 
with  a  laugh,  "  Or  perhaps  I  should  not  ad 
mire  them  so  much.  I  suppose  it 's  the  same 
feeling  bachelors  have  for  other  people's 
wives.  But  I  know  you  're  dying  to  take 
that  boy  from  me.  Take  him,  then,  and 
don't  be  ashamed  to  carry  him  yourself  just 
because  I  'm  here  ;  you  know  you  would  de 
light  to  do  it  if  I  were  n't." 

Barker  bent  over  the  silken  lap  in  which 
the  child  was  comfortably  nestling,  and  in 
that  attitude  had  a  faint  consciousness  that 
Mrs.  Horncastle  was  mischievously  breathing 
into  his  curls  a  silent  laugh.  Barker  lifted 
his  firstborn  with  proud  skillfulness,  but 
that  sagacious  infant  evidently  knew  when 
he  was  comfortable,  and  in  a  paroxysm  of 
objection  caught  his  father's  curls  with  one 
fist,  while  with  the  other  he  grasped  Mrs. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  103 

Horncastle's  brown  braids  and  brought  their 
heads  into  contact.  Upon  which  humorous 
situation  Norah,  the  nurse,  entered. 

"  It 's  all  right,  Norah,"  said  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle,  laughing,  as  she  disengaged  herself 
from  the  linking  child.  "  Mr.  Barker  has 
claimed  the  baby,  and  has  agreed  to  forgive 
you  and  me  and  say  nothing  to  Mrs.  Bar 
ker."  Norah,  with  the  inscrutable  criticism 
of  her  sex  on  her  sex,  thought  it  extremely 
probable,  and  halted  with  exasperating  dis 
cretion.  "  There,"  continued  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle,  playfully  evading  the  child's  further 
advances,  "  go  with  papa,  that 's  a  dear. 
Mr.  Barker  prefers  to  carry  him  back, 
Norah." 

"  But,"  said  the  ingenuous  and  persistent 
Barker,  still  lingering  in  hopes  of  recalling 
the  woman's  previous  expression,  "you  do 
love  children,  and  you  think  him  a  bright 
little  chap  for  his  age  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Horncastle,  putting 
back  her  loosened  braid,  "  so  round  and  fat 
and  soft.  And  such  a  discriminating  eye 
for  jewelry.  Really  you  ought  to  get  a 
necklace  like  mine  for  Mrs.  Barker  —  it 
would  please  both,  you  know."  She  moved 


104  THESE  PAETNEES. 

slowly  away,  the  united  efforts  of  Norah 
and  Barker  scarcely  sufficing  to  restrain  the 
struggling  child  from  leaping  after  her  as 
she  turned  at  the  door  and  blew  him  a  kiss. 

When  Barker  regained  his  room  he  found 
that  Mrs.  Barker  had  dismissed  Stacy  from 
her  mind  except  so  far  as  to  invoke  Norah' s 
aid  in  laying  out  her  smartest  gown  for  din 
ner.  "  But  why  take  all  this  trouble, 
dear  ?  "  said  her  simple-minded  husband ; 
"  we  are  going  to  dine  in  a  private  room  so 
that  we  can  talk  over  old  times  all  by  our 
selves,  and  any  dress  would  suit  himT  And, 
Lord,  dear  !  "  he  added,  with  a  quick  bright 
ening  at  the  fancy,  "  if  you  could  only  just 
rig  yourself  up  in  that  pretty  lilac  gown  you 
used  to  wear  at  Boomville  —  it  would  be  too 
killing,  and  just  like  old  times.  I  put  it 
away  myself  in  one  of  our  trunks  —  I 
could  n't  bear  to  leave  it  behind ;  I  know 
just  where  it  is.  I  '11 "  —  But  Mrs.  Bar 
ker's  restraining  scorn  withheld  him. 

"  George  Barker,  if  you  think  I  am  going 
to  let  you  throw  away  and  utterly  waste  Mr. 
Stacy  on  us,  alone,  in  a  private  room  with 
closed  doors  —  and  I  dare  say  you  'd  like  to 
sit  in  your  dressing-gown  and  slippers  —  you 


THREE  PARTNERS.  105 

are  entirely  mistaken.  I  know  what  is  due, 
not  to  your  old  partner,  but  to  the  great 
Mr.  Stacy,  the  financier,  and  I  know  what  is 
due  from  him  to  us  !  No !  We  dine  in  the 
great  dining-room,  publicly,  and,  if  possible, 
at  the  very  next  table  to  those  stuck-up  Peter- 
burys  and  their  Eastern  friends,  including 
that  horrid  woman,  which,  I  'm  sure,  ought 
to  satisfy  you.  Then  you  can  talk  as  much 
as  you  like,  and  as  loud  as  you  like,  about 
old  times,  —  and  the  louder  and  the  more 
the  better,  —  but  I  don't  think  he  '11  like 
it." 

"  But  the  baby  !  "  expostulated  Barker. 
"  Stacy 's  just  wild  to  see  him  —  and  we 
can't  bring  him  down  to  the  table  —  though 
we  might"  he  added,  momentarily  brighten 
ing. 

"  After  dinner,"  said  Mrs.  Barker  severely, 
"we  will  walk  through  the  big  drawing- 
rooms,  and  then  Mr.  Stacy  may  come  up 
stairs  and  see  him  in  his  crib  ;  but  not  be 
fore.  And  now,  George,  I  do  wish  that 
to-night,  for  once,  you  would  not  wear  a 
turn-down  collar,  and  that  you  would  go  to 
the  barber's  and  have  him  cut  your  hair  and 
smooth  out  the  curls.  And,  for  Heaven's 


106  THREE  PARTNERS. 

sake !  let  him  put  some  wax  or  gum  or 
something  on  your  mustache  and  twist  it 
up  on  your  cheek  like  Captain  Heath's,  for 
it  positively  droops  over  your  mouth  like  a 
girl's  ringlet.  It 's  quite  enough  for  me  to 
hear  people  talk  of  your  inexperience,  but 
really  I  don't  want  you  to  look  as  if  I  had 
run  away  with  a  pretty  schoolboy.  And, 
considering  the  size  of  that  child,  it 's  posi 
tively  disgraceful.  And,  one  thing  more, 
George.  When  I  'm  talking  to  anybody, 
please  don't  sit  opposite  to  me,  beaming 
with  delight,  and  your  mouth  open.  And 
don't  roar  if  by  chance  I  say  something 
funny.  And  —  whatever  you  do  —  don't 
make  eyes  at  me  in  company  whenever  I 
happen  to  allude  to  you,  as  I  did  before 
Captain  Heath.  It  is  positively  too  ridicu 
lous." 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  laughing  good 
humor  with  which  her  husband  received 
these  cautions,  nor  the  evident  sincerity  with 
which  he  promised  amendment.  Equally 
sincere  was  he,  though  a  little  more  thought 
ful,  in  his  severe  self-examination  of  his  de 
ficiencies,  when,  later,  he  seated  himself  at 
the  window  with  one  hand  softly  encom- 


THESE  PARTNERS.  107 

passing  his  child's  chubby  fist  in  the  crib 
beside  him,  and,  in  the  instinctive  fashion 
of  all  loneliness,  looked  out  of  the  window. 
The  southern  trades  were  whipping  the 
waves  of  the  distant  bay  and  harbor  into 
yeasty  crests.  Sheets  of  rain  swept  the  side 
walks  with  the  regularity  of  a  fusillade, 
against  which  a  few  pedestrians  struggled 
with  flapping  waterproofs  and  slanting  um 
brellas.  He  could  look  along  the  deserted 
length  of  Montgomery  Street  to  the  heights 
of  Telegraph  Hill  and  its  long-disused  sema 
phore.  It  seemed  lonelier  to  him  than  the 
mile-long  sweep  of  Heavy  Tree  Hill,  writh 
ing  against  the  mountain  wind  and  its 
aeolian  song.  He  had  never  felt  so  lonely 
there.  In  his  rigid  self-examination  he 
thought  Kitty  right  in  protesting  against 
the  effect  of  his  youthfulness  and  optimism. 
Yet  he  was  also  right  in  being  himself. 
There  is  an  egoism  in  the  highest  simplicity  ; 
and  Barker,  while  willing  to  believe  in 
others'  methods,  never  abandoned  his  own 
aims.  He  was  right  in  loving  Kitty  as  he 
did ;  he  knew  that  she  was  better  and  more 
lovable  than  she  could  believe  herself  to  be ; 
but  he  was  willing  to  believe  it  pained  and 


108  THEEE  PARTNERS. 

discomposed  her  if  he  showed  it  before  com 
pany.  He  would  not  have  her  change  even 
this  peculiarity  —  it  was  part  of  herself  — • 
no  more  than  he  would  have  changed  him 
self.  And  behind  what  he  had  conceived 
was  her  clear,  practical  common  sense,  all 
this  time  had  been  her  belief  that  she  had 
deceived  her  father !  Poor  dear,  dear  Kitty ! 
And  she  had  suffered  because  stupid  people 
had  conceived  that  her  father  had  led  him 
away  in  selfish  speculations.  As  if  he  — 
Barker  — -  would  not  have  first  discovered  it, 
and  as  if  anybody  —  even  dear  Kitty  her 
self —  was  responsible  for  his  convictions 
and  actions  but  himself.  Nevertheless,  this 
gentle  egotist  was  unusually  serious,  and 
when  the  child  awoke  at  last,  and  with  a 
fretful  start  and  vacant  eyes  pushed  his 
caressing  hand  away,  he  felt  lonelier  than 
before.  It  was  with  a  slight  sense  of  humili 
ation,  too,  that  he  saw  it  stretch  its  hands 
to  the  mere  hireling,  Norah,  who  had  never 
given  it  the  love  that  he  had  seen  even  in 
the  frivolous  Mrs.  Horncastle's  eyes.  Later, 
when  his  wife  came  in,  looking  very  pretty 
in  her  elaborate  dinner  toilette,  he  had  the 
same  conflicting  emotions.  He  knew  that 


THESE  PARTNERS.  109 

they  had  already  passed  that  phase  of  their 
married  life  when  she  no  longer  dressed  to 
please  him,  and  that  the  dictates  of  fashion 
or  the  rivalry  of  another  woman  she  held 
superior  to  his  tastes  ;  yet  he  did  not  blame 
her.  But  he  was  a  little  surprised  to  see 
that  her  dress  was  copied  from  one  of  Mrs. 
Horncastle's  most  striking  ones,  and  that  it 
did  not  suit  her.  That  which  adorned  the 
maturer  woman  did  not  agree  with  the  de 
mure  and  slightly  austere  prettiness  of  the 
young  wife. 

But  Barker  forgot  all  this  when  Stacy  — 
reserved  and  somewhat  severe-looking  in 
evening  dress  —  arrived  with  business  punc 
tuality.  He  fancied  that  his  old  partner 
received  the  announcement  that  they  would 
dine  in  the  public  room  with  something  of 
surprise,  and  he  saw  him  glance  keenly  at 
Kitty  in  her  fine  array,  as  if  he  had  sus 
pected  it  was  her  choice,  and  understood 
her  motives.  Indeed,  the  young  husband 
had  found  himself  somewhat  nervous  in 
regard  to  Stacy's  estimate  of  Kitty ;  he  was 
conscious  that  she  was  not  looking  and  act 
ing  like  the  old  Kitty  that  Stacy  had  known ; 
it  did  not  enter  his  honest  heart  that  Stacy 


110  THREE  PARTNERS. 

had,  perhaps,  not  appreciated  her  then,  and 
that  her  present  quality  might  accord  more 
with  his  worldly  tastes  and  experience.  It 
was,  therefore,  with  a  kind  of  timid  delight 
that  he  saw  Stacy  apparently  enter  into  her 
mood,  and  with  a  still  more  timorous  amuse 
ment  to  notice  that  he  seemed  to  sympathize 
not  only  with  her,  but  with  her  half-rallying, 
half-serious  attitude  towards  his  (Barker's) 
inexperience  and  simplicity.  He  was  glad 
that  she  had  made  a  friend  of  Stacy,  even  in 
this  way.  Stacy  would  understand,  as  he 
did,  her  pretty  willfulness  at  last ;  she  would 
understand  what  a  true  friend  Stacy  was  to 
him.  It  was  with  unfeigned  satisfaction 
that  he  followed  them  in  to  dinner  as  she 
leaned  upon  his  guest's  arm,  chatting  confi 
dentially.  He  was  only  uneasy  because  her 
manner  had  a  slight  ostentation. 

The  entrance  of  the  little  party  produced 
a  quick  sensation  throughout  the  dining- 
room.  Whispers  passed  from  table  to  table ; 
all  heads  were  turned  towards  the  great 
financier  as  towards  a  magnet ;  a  few  guests 
even  shamelessly  faced  round  in  their  chairs 
as  he  passed.  Mrs.  Barker  was  pink,  pretty, 
and  voluble  with  excitement ;  Stacy  had  a 


THREE  PARTNERS.  Ill 

slight  mask  of  reserve ;  Barker  was  the 
only  one  natural  and  unconscious. 

As  the  dinner  progressed  Barker  found 
that  there  was  little  chance  for  him  to  invoke 
his  old  partner's  memories  of  the  past.  He 
found,  however,  that  Stacy  had  received  a 
letter  from  Demorest,  and  that  he  was  com 
ing  home  from  Europe.  His  letters  were 
still  sad  ;  they  both  agreed  upon  that.  And 
then  for  the  first  time  that  day  Stacy  looked 
intently  at  Barker  with  the  look  that  he  had 
often  worn  on  Heavy  Tree  Hill. 

"Then  you  think  it  is  the  same  old 
trouble  that  worries  him  ?  "  said  Barker  in 
an  awed  and  sympathetic  voice. 

"  I  believe  it  is,"  said  Stacy,  with  an  equal 
feeling.  Mrs.  Barker  pricked  up  her  pretty 
ears ;  her  husband's  ready  sympathy  was 
familiar  enough  ;  but  that  this  cold,  practical 
Stacy  should  be  moved  at  anything  piqued 
her  curiosity. 

"  And  you  believe  that  he  has  never  got 
over  it  ?  "  continued  Barker. 

"  He  had  one  chance,  but  he  threw  it 
away,"  said  Stacy  energetically.  "  If,  in 
stead  of  going  off  to  Europe  by  himself  to 
brood  over  it,  he  had  joined  me  in  business, 
he  'd  have  been  another  man." 


112  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  But  not  Demorest,"  said  Barker  quickly. 

"  What  dreadful  secret  is  this  about  De 
morest  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Barker  petulantly.  "  Is 
heiU?" 

Both  men  were  silent  by  their  old  common 
instinct.  But  it  was  Stacy  who  said  "  No  " 
in  a  way  that  put  any  further  questioning  at 
an  end,  and  Barker  was  grateful  and  for  the 
moment  disloyal  to  his  Kitty. 

It  was  with  delight  that  Mrs.  Barker  had 
seen  that  the  attention  of  the  next  table  was 
directed  to  them,  and  that  even  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle  had  glanced  from  time  to  time  at 
Stacy.  But  she  was  not  prepared  for  the 
evident  equal  effect  that  Mrs.  Horncastle 
had  created  upon  Stacy.  His  cold  face 
warmed,  his  critical  eye  softened ;  he  asked 
her  name.  Mrs.  Barker  was  voluble,  preju 
diced,  and,  it  seemed,  misinformed. 

"  I  know  it  all,"  said  Stacy,  with  didactic 
emphasis.  "  Her  husband  was  as  bad  as 
they  make  them.  When  her  life  had  be 
come  intolerable  with  him,  he  tried  to  make 
it  shameful  without  him  by  abandoning  her. 
She  could  get  a  divorce  a  dozen  times  over, 
but  she  won't." 

"  I  suppose  that 's  what  makes  her  so  very 


THREE  PARTNERS.  118 

attractive  to  gentlemen,"  said  Mrs.  Barker 
ironically. 

"  I  have  never  seen  her  before,"  continued 
Stacy,  with  business  precision,  "  although  I 
and  two  other  men  are  guardians  of  her 
property,  and  have  saved  it  from  the  clutches 
of  her  husband.  They  told  me  she  was 
handsome  —  and  so  she  is." 

Pleased  with  the  sudden  human  weakness 
of  Stacy,  Barker  glanced  at  his  wife  for  sym 
pathy.  But  she  was  looking  studiously  an 
other  way,  and  the  young  husband's  eyes, 
still  full  of  his  gratification,  fell  upon  Mrs. 
Horncastle's.  She  looked  away  with  a  bright 
color.  Whereupon  the  sanguine  Barker  — 
perfectly  convinced  that  she  returned  Stacy's 
admiration  —  was  seized  with  one  of  his  old 
boyish  dreams  of  the  future,  and  saw  Stacy 
happily  united  to  her,  and  was  only  recalled 
to  the  dinner  before  him  by  its  end.  Then 
Stacy  duly  promenaded  the  great  saloon  with 
Mrs.  Barker  on  his  arm,  visited  the  baby  in 
her  apartments,  and  took  an  easy  leave. 
But  he  grasped  Barker's  hand  before  part 
ing  in  quite  his  old  fashion,  and  said, 
"  Come  to  lunch  with  me  at  the  bank  any 
day,  and  we  '11  talk  of  Phil  Demorest,"  and 


114  THESE  PARTNERS. 

left  Barker  as  happy  as  if  the  appointment 
were  to  confer  the  favor  he  had  that  morn 
ing  refused.  But  Mrs.  Barker,  who  had 
overheard,  was  more  dubious. 

"  You  don't  suppose  he  asks  you  to  talk 
with  you  about  Demorest  and  his  stupid 
secret,  do  you  ?  "  she  said  scornfully. 

"  Perhaps  not  only  about  that,"  said 
Barker,  glad  that  she  had  not  demanded  the 
secret. 

"  Well,"  returned  Mrs.  Barker  as  she 
turned  away,  "  he  might  just  as  well  lunch 
here  and  talk  about  her  —  and  see  her,  too." 

Meantime  Stacy  had  dropped  into  his 
club,  only  a  few  squares  distant.  His  ap 
pearance  created  the  same  interest  that  it 
had  produced  at  the  hotel,  but  with  less  re 
serve  among  his  fellow  members. 

"  Have  you  heard  the  news  ? "  said  a 
dozen  voices.  Stacy  had  not ;  he  had  been 
dining  out. 

"  That  infernal  swindle  of  a  Divide  Rail 
road  has  passed  the  legislature." 

Stacy  instantly  remembered  Barker's  ab 
surd  belief  in  it  and  his  reasons.  He  smiled 
and  said  carelessly,  "  Are  you  quite  sure  it 's 
a  swindle  ?  " 


THREE  PARTNERS.  115 

There  was  a  dead  silence  at  the  coolness 
of  the  man  who  had  been  most  outspoken 
against  it. 

"  But,"  said  a  voice  hesitatingly,  "  you 
know  it  goes  nowhere  and  to  no  purpose." 

"  But  that  does  not  prevent  it,  now  that 
it 's  a  fact,  from  going  anywhere  and  to  some 
purpose,"  said  Stacy,  turning  away.  He 
passed  into  the  reading-room  quietly,  but  in 
an  instant  turned  and  quickly  descended  by 
another  staircase  into  the  hall,  hurriedly  put 
on  his  overcoat,  and  slipping  out  was  a  mo 
ment  later  reentering  the  hotel.  Here  he 
hastily  summoned  Barker,  who  came  down, 
flushed  and  excited.  Laying  his  hand  on 
Barker's  arm  in  his  old  dominant  way,  he 
said  :  — 

"  Don't  delay  a  single  hour,  but  get  a 
written  agreement  for  that  Ditch  property." 

Barker  smiled.  "  But  I  have.  Got  it 
this  afternoon." 

"  Then  you  know  ?  "  ejaculated  Stacy  in 
surprise. 

"  I  only  know,"  said  Barker,  coloring, 
"  that  you  said  I  could  back  out  of  it  if  it 
was  n't  signed,  and  that 's  what  Kitty  said, 
too.  And  I  thought  it  looked  awfully  mean 


116  THREE  PARTNERS. 

for  me  to  hold  a  man  to  that  kind  of  a  bar- 
gam.  And  so  —  you  won't  be  mad,  old  fel 
low,  will  you  ?  —  I  thought  I  'd  put  it  be 
yond  any  question  of  my  own  good  faith  by 
having  it  in  black  and  white."  He  stopped, 
laughing  and  blushing,  but  still  earnest  and 
sincere.  "You  don't  think  me  a  fool,  do 
you  ?  "  he  said  pathetically. 

Stacy  smiled  grimly.  "  I  think,  Barker 
boy,  that  if  you  go  to  the  Branch  you  '11 
have  no  difficulty  in  paying  for  the  Ditch 
property.  Good-night." 

In  a  few  moments  he  was  back  at  the  club 
again  before  any  one  knew  he  had  even  left 
the  building.  As  he  again  reentered  the 
smoking-room  he  found  the  members  still  in 
eager  discussion  about  the  new  railroad.  One 
was  saying,  "  If  they  could  get  an  extension, 
and  carry  the  road  through  Heavy  Tree 
Hill  to  Boomville  they  'd  be  all  right." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,"  said  Stacy. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  swaying,  creaking,  Boomville  coach 
had  at  last  reached  the  level  ridge,  and  sank 
forward  upon  its  springs  with  a  sigh  of  re 
lief  and  the  slow  precipitation  of  the  red 
dust  which  had  hung  in  clouds  around  it. 
The  whole  coach,  inside  and  out,  was  cov 
ered  with  this  impalpable  powder  ;  it  had 
poured  into  the  windows  that  gaped  widely 
in  the  insufferable  heat ;  it  lay  thick  upon  the 
novel  read  by  the  passenger  who  had  for  the 
third  or  fourth  time  during  the  ascent  made 
a  gutter  of  the  half-opened  book  and  blown 
the  dust  away  in  a  single  puff,  like  the 
smoke  from  a  pistol.  It  lay  in  folds  and 
creases  over  the  yellow  silk  duster  of  the 
handsome  woman  on  the  back  seat,  and 
when  she  endeavored  to  shake  it  off  envel 
oped  her  in  a  reddish  nimbus.  It  grimed 
the  handkerchiefs  of  others,  and  left  san 
guinary  streaks  on  their  mopped  foreheads. 
But  as  the  coach  had  slowly  climbed  the 


118  THREE  PARTNERS. 

summit  the  sun  was  also  sinking  behind  the 
Black  Spur  Range,  and  with  its  ultimate 
disappearance  a  delicious  coolness  spread 
itself  like  a  wave  across  the  ridge.  The 
passengers  drew  a  long  breath,  the  reader 
closed  his  book,  the  lady  lifted  the  edge  of 
her  veil  and  delicately  wiped  her  forehead, 
over  which  a  few  damp  tendrils  of  hair  were 
clinging.  Even  a  distinguished-looking  man 
who  had  sat  as  impenetrable  and  remote  as 
a  statue  in  one  of  the  front  seats  moved  and 
turned  his  abstracted  face  to  the  window. 
His  deeply  tanned  cheek  and  clearly  cut  fea 
tures  harmonized  with  the  red  dust  that  lay 
in  the  curves  of  his  brown  linen  dust-cloak, 
and  completed  his  resemblance  to  a  bronze 
figure.  Yet  it  was  Demorest,  changed  only 
in  coloring.  Now,  as  five  years  ago,  his  ab 
straction  had  a  certain  quality  which  the 
most  familiar  stranger  shrank  from  disturb 
ing.  But  in  the  general  relaxation  of  relief 
the  novel-reader  addressed  him. 

"  Well,  we  ain't  far  from  Boomville  now, 
and  it 's  all  down-grade  the  rest  of  the  way. 
I  reckon  you  '11  be  as  glad  to  get  a  '  wash 
up '  and  a  '  shake  '  as  the  rest  of  us." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  won't  have  so  early  an 


THREE  PAETNERS.  119 

opportunity,"  said  Demorest.  with  a  faint, 
grave  smile,  "  for  I  get  off  at  the  cross-road 
to  Heavy  Tree  Hill." 

"  Heavy  Tree  Hill !  "  repeated  the  other 
in  surprise.  "  You  ain't  goin'  to  Heavy 
Tree  Hill  ?  Why,  you  might  have  gone 
there  direct  by  railroad,  and  have  been  there 
four  hours  ago.  You  know  there  's  a  branch 
from  the  Divide  Kailroad  goes  there  straight 
to  the  hotel  at  Hymettus." 

"  Where  ?  "  said  Demorest,  with  a  puzzled 
smile. 

"  Hymettus.  That 's  the  fancy  name 
they  've  given  to  the  watering-place  on  the 
slope.  But  I  reckon  you  're  a  stranger 
here  ?  " 

"  For  five  years,"  said  Demorest.  "  I 
fancy  I  Ve  heard  of  the  railroad,  although 
I  prefer  to  go  to  Heavy  Tree  this  way.  But 
I  never  heard  of  a  watering-place  there  be 
fore.'' 

"  Why,  it 's  the  biggest  boom  of  the  year. 
Folks  that  are  tired  of  the  fogs  of  'Frisco 
and  the  heat  of  Sacramento  all  go  there. 
It 's  four  thousand  feet  up,  with  a  hotel  like 
Saratoga,  dancing,  and  a  band  plays  every 
night.  And  it  all  sprang  out  of  the  Di- 


120  THEEE  PAETNEES. 

vide  Railroad  and  a  crank  named  George 
Barker,  who  bought  up  some  old  Ditch  pro 
perty  and  ran  a  branch  line  along  its  levels, 
and  made  a  junction  with  the  Divide. 
You  can  come  all  the  way  from  'Frisco  or 
Sacramento  by  rail.  It 's  a  mighty  big 
thing !  " 

"  Yet,"  said  Demorest,  with  some  anima 
tion,  "  you  call  the  man  who  originated  this 
success  a  crank.  I  should  say  he  was  a 
genius." 

The  other  passenger  shook  his  head. 
"  All  sheer  nigger  luck.  He  bought  the 
Ditch  plant  afore  there  was  a  ghost  of  a 
chance  for  the  Divide  Railroad,  just  out 
o'  pure  d — d  foolishness.  He  expected  so 
little  from  it  that  he  had  n't  even  got  the 
agreement  done  in  writin',  and  had  n't  paid 
for  it,  when  the  Divide  Railroad  passed 
the  legislature,  as  it  never  oughter  done  ! 
For,  you  see,  the  blamedest  cur'ous  thing 
about  the  whole  affair  was  that  this  '  straw ' 
road  of  a  Divide,  all  pure  wildcat,  was  only 
gotten  up  to  frighten  the  Pacific  Railroad 
sharps  into  buying  it  up.  And  the  road 
that  nobody  ever  calculated  would  ever  have 
a  rail  of  it  laid  was  pushed  on  as  soon 


THREE  PAETNEES.  121 

as  folks  knew  that  the  Ditch  plant  had 
been  bought  up,  for  they  thought  there 
was  a  big  thing  behind  it.  Even  the  hotel 
was,  at  first,  simply  a  kind  of  genteel  alms- 
house  that  this  yer  Barker  had  built  for 
broken-down  miners  !  " 

"  Nevertheless,"  continued  Demorest,  smil 
ing,  "  you  admit  that  it  is  a  great  success  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  the  other,  a  little  irritated 
by  some  complacency  in  Demorest's  smile, 
"  but  the  success  is  n't  his'n.  Fools  has 
ideas,  and  wise  men  profit  by  them,  for  that 
hotel  now  has  Jim  Stacy's  bank  behind  it, 
and  is  even  a  kind  of  country  branch  of  the 
Brook  House  in  'Frisco.  Barker 's  out  of  it, 
I  reckon.  Anyhow,  he  could  n't  run  a  hotel, 
for  all  that  his  wife  —  she  that 's  one  of  the 
big  'Frisco  swells  now  —  used  to  help  serve 
in  her  father's.  No,  sir,  it 's  just  a  fool's 
luck,  gettin'  the  first  taste  and  leavin'  the 
rest  to  others." 

"  I  'm  not  sure  that  it 's  the  worst  kind 
of  luck,"  returned  Demorest,  with  persistent 
gravity ;  "  and  I  suppose  he  's  satisfied  with 
it."  But  so  heterodox  an  opinion  only  irri 
tated  his  antagonist  the  more,  especially 
as  he  noticed  that  the  handsome  woman  in 


122  THESE  PARTNERS. 

the  back  seat  appeared  to  be  interested  in 
the  conversation,  and  even  sympathetic  with 
Demorest.  The  man  was  in  the  main  a 
good-natured  fellow  and  loyal  to  his  friends  ; 
but  this  did  not  preclude  any  virulent  criti 
cism  of  others,  and  for  a  moment  he  hated 
this  bronze-faced  stranger,  and  even  saw 
blemishes  in  the  handsome  woman's  beauty. 
"That  may  be  your  idea  of  an  Eastern 
man,"  he  said  bluntly,  "  but  I  kin  tell  ye 
that  Californy  ain't  run  on  those  lines.  No, 
sir."  Nevertheless,  his  curiosity  got  the 
better  of  his  ill  humor,  and  as  the  coach  at 
last  pulled  up  at  the  cross-road  for  Demorest 
to  descend  he  smiled  affably  at  his  departing 
companion. 

"  You  allowed  just  now  that  you  'd  bin 
five  years  away.  Whar  mout  ye  have  bin  ?  " 

"In  Europe,"  said  Demorest  pleasantly. 

"  I  reckoned  ez  much,"  returned  his  inter 
rogator,  smiling  significantly  at  the  other 
passengers.  "  But  in  what  place  ?  " 

"  Oh,  many,"  said  Demorest,  smiling  also. 

"  But  what  place  war  ye  last  livin'  at  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Demorest,  descending  the 
steps,  but  lingering  for  a  moment  with  his 
hand  on  the  door  of  the  coach,  "  oddly 


THREE  PARTNERS.  123 

enough,  now  you  remind  me  of  it  —  at  Hy- 
mettus ! " 

He  closed  the  door,  and  the  coach  rolled 
on.  The  passenger  reddened,  glanced  indig 
nantly  after  the  departing  figure  of  Demo- 
rest  and  suspiciously  at  the  others.  The 
lady  was  looking  from  the  window  with  a 
faint  smile  on  her  face. 

"  He  might  hev  given  me  a  civil  answer," 
muttered  the  passenger,  and  resumed  his 
novel. 

When  the  coach  drew  up  before  Carter's 
Hotel  the  lady  got  down,  and  the  curiosity 
of  her  susceptible  companions  was  gratified 
to  the  extent  of  learning  from  the  register 
that  her  name  was  Horncastle. 

She  was  shown  to  a  private  sitting-room, 
which  chanced  to  be  the  one  which  had  be 
longed  to  Mrs.  Barker  in  the  days  of  her 
maidenhood,  and  was  the  sacred,  impenetra 
ble  bower  to  which  she  retired  when  her 
daily  duties  of  waiting  upon  her  father's 
guests  were  over.  But  the  breath  of  custom 
had  passed  through  it  since  then,  and  but 
little  remained  of  its  former  maiden  glories, 
except  a  few  schoolgirl  crayon  drawings  on 
the  wall  and  an  unrecognizable  portrait  of 


124  THESE  PAETNEES. 

herself  in  oil,  done  by  a  wandering  artist 
and  still  preserved  as  a  receipt  for  his  un 
paid  bill.  Of  these  facts  Mrs.  Horncastle 
knew  nothing;  she  was  evidently  preoccu 
pied,  and  after  she  had  removed  her  outer 
duster  and  entered  the  room,  she  glanced  at 
the  clock  on  the  mantel-shelf  and  threw  her 
self  with  an  air  of  resigned  abstraction  in 
an  armchair  in  the  corner.  Her  traveling- 
dress,  although  unostentatious,  was  tasteful 
and  well-fitting;  a  slight  pallor  from  her 
fatiguing  journey,  and,  perhaps,  from  some 
absorbing  thought,  made  her  beauty  still 
more  striking.  She  gave  even  an  air  of 
elegance  to  the  faded,  worn  adornments  of 
the  room,  which  it  is  to  be  feared  it  never 
possessed  in  Miss  Kitty's  occupancy.  Again 
she  glanced  at  the  clock.  There  was  a  tap 
at  the  door. 

"  Come  in." 

The  door  opened  to  a  Chinese  servant 
bearing  a  piece  of  torn  paper  with  a  name 
written  on  it  in  lieu  of  a  card. 

Mrs.  Horncastle  took  it,  glanced  at  the 
name,  and  handed  the  paper  back. 

"  There  must  be  some  mistake,"  she  said. 
"  I  do  not  know  Mr.  Steptoe." 


THREE  PARTNERS.  125 

"No,  but  you  know  me  all  the  same," 
said  a  voice  from  the  doorway  as  a  man 
entered,  coolly  took  the  Chinese  servant  by 
the  elbows  and  thrust  him  into  the  passage, 
closing  the  door  upon  him.  "  Steptoe  and 
Horncastle  are  the  same  man,  only  I  prefer 
to  call  myself  Steptoe  here.  And  I  see 
you  're  down  on  the  register  as  '  Horncastle.' 
Well,  it 's  plucky  of  you,  and  it 's  not  a  bad 
name  to  keep ;  you  might  be  thankful  that  I 
have  always  left  it  to  you.  And  if  I  call 
myself  Steptoe  here  it 's  a  good  blind  against 
any  of  your  swell  friends  knowing  you  met 
your  husband  here." 

In  the  half -scornful,  half -resigned  look  she 
had  given  him  when  he  entered  there  was  no 
doubt  that  she  recognized  him  as  the  man 
she  had  come  to  see.  He  had  changed  little 
in  the  five  years  that  had  elapsed  since  he 
entered  the. three  partners'  cabin  at  Heavy 
Tree  Hill.  His  short  hair  and  beard  still 
clung  to  his  head  like  curled  moss  or  the 
crisp  flocculence  of  Astrakhan.  He  was 
dressed  more  pretentiously,  but  still  gave 
the  same  idea  of  vulgar  strength.  She  lis 
tened  to  him  without  emotion,  but  said,  with 
even  a  deepening  of  scorn  in  her  manner :  — 


126  THESE  PARTNERS. 

"  What  new  shame  is  this  ?  " 

"  Nothing  new,"  he  replied.  "  Only  five 
years  ago  I  was  livin'  over  on  the  Bar  at 
Heavy  Tree  Hill  under  the  name  of  Steptoe, 
and  folks  here  might  recognize  me.  I  was 
here  when  your  particular  friend,  Jim  Stacy, 
who  only  knew  me  as  Steptoe,  and  doesn't 
know  me  as  Horncastle,  your  husband,  —  for 
all  he  's  bound  up  my  property  for  you,  — 
made  his  big  strike  with  his  two  partners. 
I  was  in  his  cabin  that  very  night,  and 
drank  his  whiskey.  Oh,  I  'm  all  right  there ! 
I  left  everything  all  right  behind  me  — 
only  it 's  just  as  well  he  does  n't  know  I  'm 
Horncastle.  And  as  the  boy  happened  to  be 
there  with  me  "  He  stopped,  and  looked 
at  her  significantly. 

The  expression  of  her  face  changed. 
Eagerness,  anxiety,  and  even  fear  came  into 
it  in  turn,  but  always  mingling  with  some 
scorn  that  dominated  her.  "  The  boy !  "  she 
said  in  a  voice  that  had  changed  too ;  "  well, 
what  about  him  ?  You  promised  to  tell  me 
all,  —  all !  " 

"  Where 's  the  money  ?  "  he  said.  "  Hus 
band  and  wife  are  one,  I  know,"  he  went  on 
with  a  coarse  laugh,  "but  I  don't  trust  my 
self  in  these  matters." 


THESE  PARTNERS.  127 

She  took  from  a  traveling-reticule  that  lay 
beside  her  a  roll  of  notes  and  a  chamois 
leather  bag  of  coin,  and  laid  them  on  the 
table  before  him.  He  examined  both  care- 

My. 

"  All  right,"  he  said.  "  I  see  you  've  got 
the  checks  made  out  '  to  bearer.'  Your 
head 's  level,  Conny.  Pity  you  and  me  can't 
agree." 

"  I  went  to  the  bank  across  the  way  as 
soon  as  I  arrived,"  she  said,  with  contemp 
tuous  directness.  "  I  told  them  I  was  going 
over  to  Hymettus  and  might  want  money." 

He  dropped  into  a  chair  before  her  with 
his  broad  heavy  hands  upon  his  knees,  and 
looked  at  her  with  an  equal,  though  baser, 
contempt :  for  his  was  mingled  with  a  cer 
tain  pride  of  mastery  and  possession. 

"  And,  of  course,  you  '11  go  to  Hymettus 
and  cut  a  splurge  as  you  always  do.  The 
beautiful  Mrs.  Horncastle!  The  helpless 
victim  of  a  wretched,  dissipated,  disgraced, 
gambling  husband.  So  dreadfully  sad,  you 
know,  and  so  interesting !  Could  get  a  di 
vorce  from  the  brute  if  she  wanted,  but 
won't,  on  account  of  her  religious  scruples. 
And  so  while  the  brute  is  gambling,  swin- 


128  THREE  PARTNERS. 

dling,  disgracing  himself,  and  dodging  a  shot 
here  and  a  lynch  committee  there,  two  or 
three  hundred  miles  away,  you  're  splurging 
round  in  first-class  hotels  and  watering- 
places,  doing  the  injured  and  abused,  and 
run  after  by  a  lot  of  men  who  are  ready  to 
take  my  place,  and,  maybe,  some  of  my  re 
putation  along  with  it." 

"  Stop !  "  she  said  suddenly,  in  a  voice 
that  made  the  glass  chandelier  ring.  He 
had  risen  too,  with  a  quick,  uneasy  glance 
towards  the  door.  But  her  outbreak  passed 
as  suddenly,  and  sinking  back  into  her  chair, 
she  said,  with  her  previous  scornful  resig 
nation,  "  Never  mind.  Go  on.  You  know 
you  're  lying !  " 

He  sat  down  again  and  looked  at  her 
critically.  "  Yes,  as  far  as  you  're  concerned 
I  was  lying  !  I  know  your  style.  But  as 
you  know,  too,  that  I  'd  kill  you  and  the  first 
man  I  suspected,  and  there  ain't  a  judge  or 
a  jury  in  all  Californy  that  would  n't  let  me 
go  free  for  it,  and  even  consider,  too,  that  it 
had  wiped  off  the  whole  slate  agin  me  —  it 's 
to  my  credit !  " 

"  I  know  what  you  men  call  chivalry," 
she  said  coldly,  "  but  I  did  not  come  here  to 


THESE  PAETNEES,  129 

buy  a  knowledge  of  that.  So  now  about  the 
child  ?  "  she  ended  abruptly,  leaning  forward 
again  with  the  same  look  of  eager  solicitude 
in  her  eyes. 

"  Well,  about  the  child  —  our  child  — 
though,  perhaps,  I  prefer  to  say  my  child," 
he  began,  with  a  certain  brutal  frankness. 
"  I  '11  tell  you.  But  first,  I  don't  want  you 
to  talk  about  buying  your  information  of 
me.  If  I  have  n't  told  you  anything  before, 
it 's  because  I  did  n't  think  you  oughter 
know.  If  I  did  n't  trust  the  child  to  you, 
it 's  because  I  did  n't  think  you  could  go 
shashaying  about  with  a  child  that  was 
three  years  old  when  I "  —  he  stopped  and 
wiped  his  mouth  with  the  back  of  his  hand 
—  ".made  an  honest  woman  of  you  —  I 
think  that 's  what  they  call  it." 

"But,"  she  said  eagerly,  ignoring  the 
insult,  "  I  could  have  hidden  it  where  no  one 
but  myself  would  have  known  it.  I  could 
have  sent  it  to  school  and  visited  it  as  a 
relation." 

"  Yes,"  he  said  curtly,  "  like  all  women, 
and  then  blurted  it  out  some  day  and  made 
it  worse." 

"  But,"  she  said  desperately,  "  even  then, 


130  THREE  PARTNERS. 

suppose  I  had  been  willing  to  take  the  shame 
of  it !  I  have  taken  more  !  " 

"  But  I  did  n't  intend  that  you  should," 
he  said  roughly. 

"  You  are  very  careful  of  my  reputation," 
she  returned  scornfully. 

"  Not  by  a  d — d  sight,"  he  burst  out ; 
"  but  I  care  for  his  !  I  'm  not  goin'  to  let 
any  man  call  him  a  bastard  !  " 

Callous  as  she  had  become  even  under 
this  last  cruel  blow,  she  could  not  but  see 
something  in  his  coarse  eyes  she  had  never 
seen  before  ;  could  not  but  hear  something 
in  his  brutal  voice  she  had  never  heard  be 
fore  !  Was  it  possible  that  somewhere  in 
the  depths  of  his  sordid  nature  he  had  his 
own  contemptible  sense  of  honor  ?  A  hys 
terical  feeling  came  over  her  hitherto  passive 
disgust  and  scorn,  but  it  disappeared  with 
his  next  sentence  in  a  haze  of  anxiety. 
"  No !  "  he  said  hoarsely,  "  he  had  enough 
wrong  done  him  already." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  she  said  implor 
ingly.  "  Or  are  you  again  lying  ?  You 
said,  four  years  ago,  that  he  had  '  got  into 
trouble  ; '  that  was  your  excuse  for  keeping 
him  from  me.  Or  was  that  a  lie,  too  ?  " 


THREE  PARTNERS.  131 

His  manner  changed  and  softened,  but 
not  for  any  pity  for  his  companion,  but 
rather  from  some  change  in  his  own  feelings. 
"  Oh,  that"  he  said,  with  a  rough  laugh, 
"  that  was  only  a  kind  o'  trouble  any  sassy 
kid  like  him  was  likely  to  get  into.  You 
ain't  got  no  call  to  hear  that,  for,"  he  added, 
with  a  momentary  return  to  his  previous 
manner,  "  the  wrong  that  was  done  him  is 
my  lookout !  You  want  to  know  what  I  did 
with  him,  how  he  's  been  looked  arter,  and 
where  he  is  ?  You  want  the  worth  of  your 
money.  That 's  square  enough.  But  first 
I  want  you  to  know,  though  you  may  n't  be 
lieve  it,  that  every  red  cent  you  've  given 
me  to-night  goes  to  him.  And  don't  you 
forget  it." 

For  all  his  vulgar  frankness  she  knew  he 
had  lied  to  her  many  times  before,  —  ma 
liciously,  wantonly,  complacently,  but  never 
evasively ;  yet  there  was  again  that  some 
thing  in  his  manner  which  told  her  he  was 
now  telling  the  truth. 

"  Well,"  he  began,  settling  himself  back 
in  his  chair,  "  I  told  you  I  brought  him  to 
Heavy  Tree  Hill.  After  I  left  you  I  was  n't 
going  to  trust  him  to  no  school ;  he  knew 


132  THREE  PARTNERS. 

enough  for  me  ;  but  when  I  left  those  parts 
where  nobody  knew  you,  and  got  a  little 
nearer  'Frisco,  where  people  might  have 
known  us  both,  I  thought  it  better  not  to 
travel  round  with  a  kid  o'  that  size  as  his 
father.  So  I  got  a  young  fellow  here  to 
pass  him  off  as  his  little  brother,  and  look 
after  him  and  board  him  ;  and  I  paid  him  a 
big  price  for  it,  too,  you  bet !  You  would  n't 
think  it  was  a  man  who 's  now  swelling 
around  here,  the  top  o'  the  pile,  that  ever 
took  money  from  a  brute  like  me,  and  for 
such  schoolmaster  work,  too  ;  but  he  did, 
and  his  name  was  Van  Loo,  a  clerk  of  the 
Ditch  Company." 

"  Van  Loo  !  "  said  the  woman,  with  a 
*  movement  of  disgust ;  "  that  man !  " 

"  What 's  the  matter  with  Van  Loo  ?  "  he 
said,  with  a  coarse  laugh,  enjoying  his  wife's 
discomfiture.  "  He  speaks  French  and  Span 
ish,  and  you  oughter  hear  the  kid  roll  off  the 
lingo  he 's  got  from  him.  He 's  got  style, 
and  knows  how  to  dress,  and  you  ought  to 
see  the  kid  bow  and  scrape,  and  how  he  car 
ries  himself.  Now,  Van  Loo  was  n't  ex 
actly  my  style,  and  I  reckon  I  don't  hanker 
after  him  much,  but  he  served  my  purpose." 


THREE  PARTNERS.  133 

"  And  this  man  knows  "  —  she  said,  with 
a  shudder. 

"  He  knows  Steptoe  and  the  boy,  but  he 
don't  know  Horncastle  nor  you.  Don't  you 
be  skeert.  He  's  the  last  man  in  the  world 
who  would  hanker  to  see  me  or  the  kid  again, 
or  would  dare  to  say  that  he  ever  had ! 
Lord !  I  'd  like  to  see  his  fastidious  mug 
if  me  and  Eddy  walked  in  upon  him  and  his 
high-toned  mother  and  sister  some  arter- 
noon."  He  threw  himself  back  and  laughed 
a  derisive,  spasmodic,  choking  laugh,  which 
was  so  far  from  being  genial  that  it  even 
seemed  to  indicate  a  lively  appreciation  of 
pain  in  others  rather  than  of  pleasure  in 
himself.  He  had  often  laughed  at  her  in 
the  same  way. 

"  And  where  is  he  now  ?  "  she  said,  with  a 
compressed  lip. 

"  At  school.  Where,  I  don't  tell  you. 
You  know  why.  But  he  's  looked  after  by 
me,  and  d — d  well  looked  after,  too." 

She  hesitated,  composed  her  face  with  an 
effort,  parted  her  lips,  and  looked  out  of  the 
window  into  the  gathering  darkness.  Then 
after  a  moment  she  said  slowly,  yet  with  a 
certain  precision  :  — 


134  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  And  his  mother  ?  Do  you  ever  talk  to 
him  of  her  ?  Does  —  does  he  ever  speak 
of  me  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  think  ?  "  he  said  comfort 
ably,  changing  his  position  in  the  chair,  and 
trying  to  read  her  face  in  the  shadow. 
"  Come,  now.  You  don't  know,  eh  ?  Well  — 
no  !  No  !  You  understand.  No  !  He  's  my 
friend  —  mine  !  He  's  stood  by  me  through 
thick  and  thin.  Run  at  my  heels  when 
everybody  else  fled  me.  Dodged  vigilance 
committees  with  me,  laid  out  in  the  brush 
with  me  with  his  hand  in  mine  when  the 
sheriff's  deputies  were  huntin'  me  ;  shut  his 
jaw  close  when,  if  he  squealed,  he  'd  have 
been  called  another  victim  of  the  brute 
Horncastle,  and  been  as  petted  and  canoodled 
as  you." 

It  would  have  been  difficult  for  any  one 
but  the  woman  who  knew  the  man  before 
her  to  have  separated  his  brutish  delight  in 
paining  her  from  another  feeling  she  had 
never  dreamt  him  capable  of,  —  an  intense 
and  fierce  pride  in  his  affection  for  his  child. 
And  it  was  the  more  hopeless  to  her  that  it 
was  not  the  mere  sentiment  of  reciprocation, 
but  the  material  instinct  of  paternity  in  its 


THREE  PARTNERS.  135 

most  animal  form.  And  it  seemed  horrible 
to  her  that  the  only  outcome  of  what  had 
been  her  own  wild,  youthful  passion  for  this 
brute  was  this  love  for  the  flesh  of  her  flesh, 
for  she  was  more  and  more  conscious  as  he 
spoke  that  her  yearning  for  the  boy  was  the 
yearning  of  an  equally  dumb  and  unreason 
ing  maternity.  They  had  met  again  as 
animals  —  in  fear,  contempt,  and  anger  of 
each  other ;  but  the  animal  had  triumphed 
in  both. 

When  she  spoke  again  it  was  as  the 
woman  of  the  world,  —  the  woman  who  had 
laughed  two  years  ago  at  the  irrepressible 
Barker.  "  It 's  a  new  thing,"  she  said, 
languidly  turning  her  rings  on  her  fingers, 
"to  see  you  in  the  role  of  a  doting  father. 
And  may  I  ask  how  long  you  have  had  this 
amiable  weakness,  and  how  long  it  is  to 
last?" 

To  her  surprise  and  the  keen  retaliating 
delight  of  her  sex,  a  conscious  flush  covered 
his  face  to  the  crisp  edges  of  his  black  and 
matted  beard.  For  a  moment  she  hoped 
that  he  had  lied.  But,  to  her  greater  sur 
prise,  he  stammered  in  equal  frankness : 
"  It 's  growed  upon  me  for  the  last  five  years 


136  THREE  PARTNERS. 

—  ever  since  I  was  alone  with  him."  He 
stopped,  cleared  his  throat,  and  then,  stand 
ing  up  before  her,  said  in  his  former  voice, 
but  with  a  more  settled  and  intense  deliber 
ation  :  "  You  wanter  know  how  long  it  will 
last,  do  ye  ?  Well,  you  know  your  special 
friend,  Jim  Stacy  —  the  big  millionaire  — • 
the  great  Jim  of  the  Stock  Exchange  —  the 
man  that  pinches  the  money  market  of  Cali- 
forny  between  his  finger  and  thumb  and 
makes  it  squeal  in  New  York  —  the  man 
who  shakes  the  stock  market  when  he 
sneezes  ?  Well,  it  will  go  on  until  that  man 
is  a  beggar  ;  until  he  has  to  borrow  a  dime 
for  his  breakfast,  and  slump  out  of  his  lunch 
with  a  cent's  worth  of  rat  poison  or  a  bullet 
in  his  head !  It  '11  go  on  until  his  old  part 
ner  —  that  softy  George  Barker  —  comes  to 
the  bottom  of  his  d — d  fool  luck  and  is  a 
penny-a-liner  for  the  papers  and  a  hanger- 
round  at  free  lunches,  and  his  scatter-brained 
wife  runs  away  with  another  man !  It  '11  go 
on  until  the  high-toned  Demorest,  the  last 
of  those  three  little  tin  gods  of  Heavy  Tree 
Hill,  will  have  to  climb  down,  and  will  know 
what  /  feel  and  what  he 's  made  me  feel, 
and  will  wish  himself  in  hell  before  he  ever 


THREE  PARTNERS.  137 

made  the  big  strike  on  Heavy  Tree !  That 's 
me  !  You  hear  me  !  I  'm  shoutin'  !  It  '11 
last  till  then !  It  may  be  next  week,  next 
month,  next  year.  But  it  '11  come.  And 
when  it  does  come  you  '11  see  me  and  Eddy 
just  waltzin'  in  and  takin'  the  chief  seats  in 
the  synagogue !  And  you  '11  have  a  free 
pass  to  the  show !  " 

Either  he  was  too  intoxicated  with  his 
vengeful  vision,  or  the  shadows  of  the  room 
had  deepened,  but  he  did  not  see  the  quick 
flush  that  had  risen  to  his  wife's  face  with 
this  allusion  to  Barker,  nor  the  after-settling 
of  her  handsome  features  into  a  dogged 
determination  equal  to  his  own.  His  blind 
fury  against  the  three  partners  did  not  touch 
her  curiosity  ;  she  was  only  struck  with  the 
evident  depth  of  his  emotion.  He  had 
never  been  a  braggart  ;  his  hostility  had 
always  been  lazy  and  cynical.  Remember 
ing  this,  she  had  a  faint  stirring  of  respect 
for  the  undoubted  courage  and  consciousness 
of  strength  shown  in  this  wild  but  single- 
handed  crusade  against  wealth  and  power  ; 
rather,  perhaps,  it  seemed  to  her  to  condone 
her  own  weakness  in  her  youthful  and  in 
explicable  passion  for  him.  No  wonder  she 
had  submitted. 


138  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"Then  you  have  nothing  more  to  tell 
me  ? "  she  said  after  a  pause,  rising  and 
going  towards  the  mantel. 

"  You  need  n't  light  up  for  me,"  he  re 
turned,  rising  also.  "  I  am  going.  Unless," 
he  added,  with  his  coarse  laugh,  "  you  think 
it  would  n't  look  well  for  Mrs.  Horncastle 
to  have  been  sitting  in  the  dark  with  —  a 
stranger  !  "  He  paused  as  she  contemptu 
ously  put  down  the  candlestick  and  threw 
the  unlit  match  into  the  grate.  "  No,  I  've 
nothing  more  to  tell.  He  's  a  fancy-looking 
pup.  You  'd  take  him  for  twenty-one, 
though  he  's  only  sixteen  —  clean-limbed 
and  perfect  —  but  for  one  thing  "  —  He 
stopped.  He  met  her  quick  look  of  inter 
rogation,  however,  with  a  lowering  silence 
that,  nevertheless,  changed  again  as  he  sur 
veyed  her  erect  figure  by  the  faint  light  of 
the  window  with  a  sardonic  smile.  "  He 
favors  you,  I  think,  and  in  all  but  one  thing, 
too." 

"  And  that  ?  "  she  queried  coldly,  as  he 
seemed  to  hesitate. 

"  He  ain't  ashamed  of  me"  he  returned, 
with  a  laugh. 

The  door  closed  behind  him ;  she  heard 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  139 

his  heavy  step  descend  the  creaking  stairs  ; 
he  was  gone.  She  went  to  the  window  and 
threw  it  open,  as  if  to  get  rid  of  the  atmos 
phere  charged  with  his  presence,  —  a  pre 
sence  still  so  potent  that  she  now  knew  that 
for  the  last  five  minutes  she  had  been,  to 
her  horror,  struggling  against  its  magnet 
ism.  She  even  recoiled  now  at  the  thought 
of  her  child,  as  if,  in  these  new  confidences 
over  it,  it  had  revived  the  old  intimacy  in 
this  link  of  their  common  flesh.  She  looked 
down  from  her  window  on  the  square  shoul 
ders,  thick  throat,  and  crisp  matted  hair  of 
her  husband  as  he  vanished  in  the  darkness, 
and  drew  a  breath  of  freedom,  —  a  freedom 
not  so  much  from  him  as  from  her  own 
weakness  that  he  was  bearing  away  with  him 
into  the  exonerating  night. 

She  shut  the  window  and  sank  down  in 
her  chair  again,  but  in  the  encompassing 
and  compassionate  obscurity  of  the  room. 
And  this  was  the  man  she  had  loved  and  for 
whom  she  had  wrecked  her  young  life  !  Or 
was  it  love  ?  and,  if  not,  how  was  she  better 
than  he  ?  Worse ;  for  he  was  more  loyal 
to  that  passion  that  had  brought  them  to 
gether  and  its  responsibilities  than  she  was. 


140  THREE  PARTNERS. 

She  had  suffered  the  perils  and  pangs  of 
maternity,  and  yet  had  only  the  mere  ani 
mal  yearning  for  her  offspring,  while  he  had 
taken  over  the  toil  and  duty,  and  even  the 
devotion,  of  parentage  himself.  But  then 
she  remembered  also  how  he  had  fascinated 
her  —  a  simple  schoolgirl  —  by  his  sheer 
domineering  strength,  and  how  the  objec 
tions  of  her  parents  to  this  coarse  and  com 
mon  man  had  forced  her  into  a  clandestine 
intimacy  that  ended  in  her  complete  subjec 
tion  to  him.  She  remembered  the  birth  of 
an  infant  whose  concealment  from  her  par 
ents  and  friends  was  compassed  by  his  low 
cunning;  she  remembered  the  late  atone 
ment  of  marriage  preferred  by  the  man  she 
had  already  begun  to  loathe  and  fear,  and 
who  she  now  believed  was  eager  only  for 
her  inheritance.  She  remembered  her  ab 
ject  compliance  through  the  greater  fear  of 
the  world,  the  stormy  scenes  that  followed 
their  ill-omened  union,  her  final  abandon 
ment  of  her  husband,  and  the  efforts  of  her 
friends  and  family  who  had  rescued  the  last 
of  her  property  from  him.  She  was  glad 
she  remembered  it ;  she  dwelt  upon  it,  upon 
his  cruelty,  his  coarseness  and  vulgarity, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  141 

until  she  saw,  as  she  honestly  believed,  the 
hidden  springs  of  his  affection  for  their 
child.  It  was  his  child  in  nature,  however 
it  might  have  favored  her  in  looks ;  it  was 
his  own  brutal  self  he  was  worshiping  in 
his  brutal  progeny.  How  else  could  it  have 
ignored  her  —  its  own  mother  ?  She  never 
doubted  the  truth  of  what  he  had  told  her 
—  she  had  seen  it  in  his  own  triumphant 
eyes.  And  yet  she  would  have  made  a  kind 
mother;  she  remembered  with  a  smile  and 
a  slight  rising  of  color  the  affection  of  Bar 
ker's  baby  for  her ;  she  remembered  with  a 
deepening  of  that  color  the  thrill  of  satisfac 
tion  she  had  felt  in  her  husband's  fulmina- 
tion  against  Mrs.  Barker,  and,  more  than 
all,  she  felt  in  his  blind  and  foolish  hatred 
of  Barker  himself  a  delicious  condonation  of 
the  strange  feeling  that  had  sprung  up  in 
her  heart  for  Barker's  simple,  straightfor 
ward  nature.  How  could  he  understand, 
how  could  they  understand  (by  the  plural 
she  meant  Mrs.  Barker  and  Horn  castle),  a 
character  so  innately  noble.  In  her  strange 
attraction  towards  him  she  had  felt  a  charm 
ing  sense  of  what  she  believed  was  a  supe 
rior  and  even  matronly  protection  ;  in  the 


142  THREE  PARTNERS. 

utter  isolation  of  her  life  now  —  and  with 
her  husband's  foolish  abuse  of  him  ringing 
in  her  ears  —  it  seemed  a  sacred  duty. 
She  had  lost  a  son.  Providence  had  sent 
her  an  ideal  friend  to  replace  him.  And  this 
was  quite  consistent,  too,  with  a  faint  smile 
that  began  to  play  about  her  mouth  as  she 
recalled  some  instances  of  Barker's  delight 
ful  and  irresistible  youthfulness. 

There  was  a  clatter  of  hoofs  and  the 
sound  of  many  voices  from  the  street.  Mrs. 
Horncastle  knew  it  was  the  down  coach 
changing  horses ;  it  would  be  off  again  in  a 
few  moments,  and,  no  doubt,  bearing  her 
husband  away  with  it.  A  new  feeling  of 
relief  came  over  her  as  she  at  last  heard  the 
warning  "  All  aboard  !  "  and  the  great  vehi 
cle  clattered  and  rolled  into  the  darkness, 
trailing  its  burning  lights  across  her  walls 
and  ceiling.  But  now  she  heard  steps  on 
the  staircase,  a  pause  before  her  room,  a 
whisper  of  voices,  the  opening  of  the  door, 
the  rustle  of  a  skirt,  and  a  little  feminine 
cry  of  protest  as  a  man  apparently  tried  to 
follow  the  figure  into  the  room.  "  No,  no  ! 
I  tell  you  no  !  "  remonstrated  the  woman's 
voice  in  a  hurried  whisper.  "  It  won't  do. 


THESE  PARTNERS.  143 

Everybody  knows  me  here.  You  must  not 
come  in  now.  You  must  wait  to  be  an 
nounced  by  the  servant.  Hush !  Go  !  " 

There  was  a  slight  struggle,  the  sound  of 
a  kiss,  and  the  woman  succeeded  in  finally 
shutting  the  door.  Then  she  walked  slowly, 
but  with  a  certain  familiarity  towards  the 
mantel,  struck  a  match  and  lit  the  candle. 
The  light  shone  upon  the  bright  eyes  and 
slightly  flushed  face  of  Mrs.  Barker.  But 
the  motionless  woman  in  the  chair  had  re 
cognized  her  voice  and  the  voice  of  her  com 
panion  at  once.  And  then  their  eyes  met. 

Mrs.  Barker  drew  back,  but  did  not  utter 
a  cry.  Mrs.  Horncastle,  with  eyes  even 
brighter  than  her  companion's,  smiled.  The 
red  deepened  in  Mrs.  Barker's  cheek. 

"  This  is  my  room !  "  she  said  indignantly, 
with  a  sweeping  gesture  around  the  walls. 

"  I  should  judge  so,"  said  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle,  following  the  gesture ;  "  but,"  she, 
added  quietly,  "  they  put  me  into  it.  It 
appears,  however,  they  did  not  expect  you." 

Mrs.  Barker  saw  her  mistake.  "No, 
no,"  she  said  apologetically,  "  of  course  not." 
Then  she  added,  with  nervous  volubility, 
sitting  down  and  tugging  at  her  gloves, 


144  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  You  see,  I  just  ran  down  from  Marysville 
to  take  a  look  at  my  father's  old  house  on 
my  way  to  Hymettus.  I  hope  I  have  n't 
disturbed  you.  Perhaps,"  she  said,  with 
sudden  eagerness,  "  you  were  asleep  when  I 
came  in !  " 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Horncastle,  "  I  was  not 
sleeping  nor  dreaming.  I  heard  you  come 
in." 

"  Some  of  these  men  are  such  idiots," 
said  Mrs.  Barker,  with  a  half-hysterical 
laugh.  "  They  seem  to  think  if  a  woman 
accepts  the  least  courtesy  from  them  they  've 
a  right  to  be  familiar.  But  I  fancy  that 
fellow  was  a  little  astonished  when  I  shut 
the  door  in  his  face." 

"  I  fancy  he  was,"  returned  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle  dryly.  "  But  I  should  n't  call  Mr. 
Van  Loo  an  idiot.  He  has  the  reputation 
of  being  a  cautious  business  man." 

Mrs.  Barker  bit  her  lip.  Her  companion 
had  been  recognized.  She  rose  with  a  slight 
flirt  of  her  skirt.  "I  suppose  I  must  go 
and  get  a  room ;  there  was  nobody  in  the 
office  when  I  came.  Everything  is  badly 
managed  here  since  my  father  took  away  the 
best  servants  to  Hymettus."  She  moved 


THREE  PARTNERS.  145 

with  affected  carelessness  towards  the  door, 
when  Mrs.  Horncastle,  without  rising  from 
her  seat,  said  :  — 

"  Why  not  stay  here  ?  " 

Mrs.  Barker  brightened  for  a  moment. 
"  Oh,"  she  said,  with  polite  deprecation,  "  I 
could  n't  think  of  turning  you  out." 

"  I  don't  intend  you  shall,"  said  Mrs. 
Horncastle.  "  We  will  stay  here  together 
until  you  go  with  me  to  Hymettus,  or  until 
Mr.  Van  Loo  leaves  the  hotel.  He  will 
hardly  attempt  to  come  in  here  again  if  I 
remain." 

Mrs.  Barker,  with  a  half -laugh,  sat  down 
irresolutely.  Mrs.  Horncastle  gazed  at  her 
curiously  ;  she  was  evidently  a  novice  in  this 
sort  of  thing.  But,  strange  to  say,  —  and  I 
leave  the  ethics  of  this  for  the  sex  to  settle, 
—  the  fact  did  not  soften  Mrs.  Horncastle's 
heart,  nor  in  the  least  qualify  her  attitude 
towards  the  younger  woman.  After  an  awk-. 
ward  pause  Mrs.  Barker  rose  again.  "  Well, 
it 's  very  good  of  you,  and —  and  —  I  '11  just 
run  out  and  wash  my  hands  and  get  the  dust 
off  me,  and  come  back." 

"  No,  Mrs.  Barker,"  said  Mrs.  Horncastle, 
rising  and  approaching  her,  "  you  will  first 


146  THREE  PAETNERS. 

wash  your  hands  of  this  Mr.  Van  Loo,  and 
get  some  of  the  dust  of  the  rendezvous  off 
you  before  you  do  anything  else.  You  can 
do  it  by  simply  telling  him,  should  you  meet 
him  in  the  hall,  that  I  was  sitting  here  when 
he  came  in,  and  heard  everything  !  Depend 
upon  it,  he  won't  trouble  you  again." 

But  Mrs.  Barker,  though  inexperienced  in 
love,  was  a  good  fighter.  The  best  of  the 
sex  are.  She  dropped  into  the  rocking- 
chair,  and  began  rocking  backwards  and  for 
wards  while  still  tugging  at  her  gloves,  and 
said,  in  a  gradually  warming  voice,  "  I  cer 
tainly  shall  not  magnify  Mr.  Van  Loo's 
silliness  to  that  importance.  And  I  have 
yet  to  learn  what  you  mean  by  talking  about 
a  rendezvous !  And  I  want  to  know,"  she 
continued,  suddenly  stopping  her  rocking  and 
tilting  the  rockers  impertinently  behind  her, 
as,  with  her  elbows  squared  on  the  chair 
arms,  she  tilted  her  own  face  defiantly  up 
into  Mrs.  Horncastle's,  "  how  a  woman  in 
your  position  —  who  does  n't  live  with  her 
husband  —  dares  to  talk  to  me  !  " 

There  was  a  lull  before  the  storm.  Mrs. 
Horncastle  approached  nearer,  and,  laying 
her  hand  on  the  back  of  the  chair,  leaned 


THREE  PAETNEES.  147 

over  her,  and,  with  a  white  face  and  a  me 
tallic  ring  in  her  voice,  said :  "  It  is  just  be 
cause  I  am  a  woman  in  my  position  that  I 
do  !  It  is  because  I  don't  live  with  my  hus 
band  that  I  can  tell  you  what  it  will  be 
when  you  no  longer  live  with  yours  —  which 
1  will  be  the  inevitable  result  of  what  you  are 
now  doing.  It  is  because  I  was  in  this  posi 
tion  that  the  very  man  who  is  pursuing  you, 
because  he  thinks  you  are  discontented  with 
your  husband,  once  thought  he  could  pursue 
me  because  I  had  left  mine.  You  are  here 
with  him  alone,  without  the  knowledge  of 
your  husband ;  call  it  folly,  caprice,  vanity, 
or  what  you  like,  it  can  have  but  one  end  — 
to  put  you  in  my  place  at  last,  to  be  consid 
ered  the  fair  game  afterwards  for  any  man 
who  may  succeed  him.  You  can  test  him 
and  the  truth  of  what  I  say  by  telling  him 
now  that  I  heard  all." 

"  Suppose  he  does  n't  care  what  you  have 
heard,"  said  Mrs.  Barker  sharply.  "  Sup 
pose  he  says  nobody  would  believe  you,  if 
'  telling '  is  your  game.  Suppose  he  is  a 
friend  of  my  husband  and  he  thinks  him  a 
much  better  guardian  of  my  reputation  than 
a  woman  like  you.  Suppose  he  should  be 


148  THREE  PARTNEES. 

the  first  one  to  tell  ray  husband  of  the  foul 
slander  invented  by  you !  " 

For  an  instant  Mrs.  Horncastle  was  taken 
aback  by  the  audacity  of  the  woman  before 
her.  She  knew  the  simple  confidence  and 
boyish  trust  of  Barker  in  his  wife  in  spite 
of  their  sometimes  strained  relations,  and 
she  knew  how  difficult  it  would  be  to  shake 
it.  And  she  had  no  idea  of  betraying  Mrs. 
Barker's  secret  to  him,  though  she  had  made 
this  scene  in  his  interest.  She  had  wished 
to  save  Mrs.  Barker  from  a  compromising 
situation,  even  if  there  was  a  certain  vindic- 
tiveness  in  her  exposing  her  to  herself.  Yet 
she  knew  it  was  quite  possible  now,  if  Mrs. 
Barker  had  immediate  access  to  her  hus 
band,  that  she  would  convince  him  of  her 
perfect  innocence.  Nevertheless,  she  had 
still  great  confidence  in  Van  Loo's  fear  of 
scandal  and  his  utter  unmanliness.  She 
knew  he  was  not  in  love  with  Mrs.  Barker, 
and  this  puzzled  her  when  she  considered 
the  evident  risk  he  was  running  now.  Her 
face,  however,  betrayed  nothing.  She  drew 
back  from  Mrs.  Barker,  and,  with  an  indif 
ferent  and  graceful  gesture  towards  the 
door,  said,  as  she  leaned  against  the  mantel, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  149 

"  Go,  then,  and  see  this  much-abused  gentle 
man,  and  then  go  together  with  him  and 
make  peace  with  your  husband  —  even  on 
those  terms.  If  I  have  saved  you  from  the 
consequences  of  your  folly  I  shall  be  willing 
to  bear  even  his  blame." 

"  Whatever  I  do,"  said  Mrs.  Barker,  ris 
ing  hotly,  "  I  shall  not  stay  here  any  longer 
to  be  insulted."  She  flounced  out  of  the 
room  and  swept  down  the  staircase  into  the 
office.  Here  she  found  an  overworked  clerk, 
and  with  crimson  cheeks  and  flashing  eyes 
wanted  to  know  why  in  her  own  father's 
hotel  she  had  found  her  own  sitting-room 
engaged,  and  had  been  obliged  to  wait  half 
an  hour  before  she  could  be  shown  into  a 
decent  apartment  to  remove  her  hat  and 
cloak  in  ;  and  how  it  was  that  even  the  gen 
tleman  who  had  kindly  escorted  her  had 
evidently  been  unable  to  procure  her  any 
assistance.  She  said  this  in  a  somewhat 
high  voice,  which  might  have  reached  the 
ears  of  that  gentleman  had  he  been  in  the 
vicinity.  But  he  was  not,  and  she  was 
forced  to  meet  the  somewhat  dazed  apologies 
of  the  clerk  alone,  and  to  accompany  the 
chambermaid  to  a  room  only  a  few  paces 


150  THREE  PARTNERS. 

distant  from  the  one  she  had  quitted.  Here 
she  hastily  removed  her  outer  duster  and 
hat,  washed  her  hands,  and  consulted  her 
excited  face  in  the  mirror,  with  the  door 
ajar  and  an  ear  sensitively  attuned  to  any 
step  in  the  corridor.  But  all  this  was  effected 
so  rapidly  that  she  was  at  last  obliged  to  sit 
down  in  a  chair  near  the  half-opened  door, 
and  wait.  She  waited  five  minutes  —  ten 
—  but  still  no  footstep.  Then  she  went  out 
into  the  corridor  and  listened,  and  then, 
smoothing  her  face,  she  slipped  downstairs, 
past  the  door  of  that  hateful  room,  and 
reappeared  before  the  clerk  with  a  smiling 
but  somewhat  pale  and  languid  face.  She 
had  found  the  room  very  comfortable,  but  it 
was  doubtful  whether  she  would  stay  over 
night  or  go  on  to  Hymettus.  Had  anybody 
been  inquiring  for  her?  She  expected  to 
meet  friends.  No !  And  her  escort  —  the 
gentleman  who  came  with  her  —  was  possi 
bly  in  the  billiard-room  or  the  bar  ? 

"  Oh  no  !     He  was  gone,"  said  the  clerk. 

"  Gone !  "  echoed  Mrs.  Barker.  "  Impos 
sible  !  He  was  —  he  was  here  only  a  mo- 
ment  ago." 

The  clerk  rang  a  bell  sharply.  The  sta 
bleman  appeared. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  151 

"  That  tall,  smooth-faced  man,  in  a  high 
hat,  who  came  with  the  lady,"  said  the  clerk 
severely  and  concisely,  —  "  did  n't  you  tell 
me  he  was  gone  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  stableman. 

"  Are  you  sure  ?  "  interrupted  Mrs.  Bar 
ker,  with  a  dazzling  smile  that,  however, 
masked  a  sudden  tightening  round  her  heart. 

"  Quite  sure,  miss,"  said  the  stableman, 
"  for  he  was  in  the  yard  when  Steptoe  came, 
after  missing  the  coach.  He  wanted  a  buggy 
to  take  him  over  to  the  Divide.  We  had  n't 
one,  so  he  went  over  to  the  other  stables,  and 
he  did  n't  come  back,  so  I  reckon  he 's  gone. 
I  remember  it,  because  Steptoe  came  by  a 
minute  after  he'd  gone,  in  another  buggy, 
and  as  he  was  going  to  the  Divide,  too,  I 
wondered  why  the  gentleman  hadn't  gone 
with  him." 

"  And  he  left  no  message  for  me  ?  He 
said  nothing?"  asked  Mrs.  Barker,  quite 
breathless,  but  still  smiling. 

"  He  said  nothin'  to  me  but  '  Is  n't  that 
Steptoe  over  there  ? '  when  Steptoe  came  in. 
And  I  remember  he  said  it  kinder  suddent 
—  as  if  he  was  reminded  o'  suthin'  he  'd 
forgot ;  and  then  he  asked  for  a  buggy.  Ye 


152  THREE  PARTNERS. 

see,  miss,"  added  the  man,  with  a  certain 
rough  consideration  for  her  disappointment, 
"  that 's  mebbe  why  he  clean  forgot  to  leave 
a  message." 

Mrs.  Barker  turned  away,  and  ascended 
the  stairs.  Selfishness  is  quick  to  recognize 
selfishness,  and  she  saw  in  a  flash  the  reason 
of  Van  Loo's  abandonment  of  her.  Some 
fear  of  discovery  had  alarmed  him  ;  perhaps 
Steptoe  knew  her  husband ;  perhaps  he  had 
heard  of  Mrs.  Horncastle's  possession  of  the 
sitting-room  ;  perhaps  —  for  she  had  not 
seen  him  since  their  playful  struggle  at  the 
door  —  he  had  recognized  the  woman  who 
was  there,  and  the  selfish  coward  had  run 
away.  Yes ;  Mrs.  Horncastle  was  right : 
she  had  been  only  a  miserable  dupe. 

Her  cheeks  blazed  as  she  entered  the  room 
she  had  just  quitted,  and  threw  herself  in  a 
chair  by  the  window.  She  bit  her  lip  as  she 
remembered  how  for  the  last  three  months 
she  had  been  slowly  yielding  to  Van  Loo's 
cautious  but  insinuating  solicitation,  from 
a  flirtation  in  the  San  Francisco  hotel  to  a 
clandestine  meeting  in  the  street ;  from  a 
ride  in  the  suburbs  to  a  supper  in  a  fast 
restaurant  after  the  theatre.  Other  women 


THREE  PARTNERS.  153 

did  it  who  were  fashionable  and  rich,  as  Van 
Loo  had  pointed  out  to  her.  Other  fashion 
able  women  also  gambled  in  stocks,  and  had 
their  private  broker  in  a  "  Charley  "  or  a 
"  Jack."  Why  should  not  Mrs.  Barker 
have  business  with  a  "  Paul "  Van  Loo, 
particularly  as  this  fast  craze  permitted  se 
cret  meetings'?  —  for  business  of  this  kind 
could  not  be  conducted  in  public,  and  per 
mitted  the  fair  gambler  to  call  at  private 
offices  without  fear  and  without  reproach. 
Mrs.  Barker's  vanity,  Mrs.  Barker's  love  of 
ceremony  and  form,  Mrs.  Barker's  snobbish 
ness,  were  flattered  by  the  attentions  of  this 
polished  gentleman  with  a  foreign  name, 
which  even  had  the  flavor  of  nobility,  who 
never  picked  up  her  fan  and  handed  it  to 
her  without  bowing,  and  always  rose  when 
she  entered  the  room.  Mrs.  Barker's  scant 
schoolgirl  knowledge  was  touched  by  this 
gentleman,  who  spoke  French  fluently,  and 
delicately  explained  to  her  the  libretto  of  a 
risky  opera  bouffe.  And  now  she  had  finally 
yielded  to  a  meeting  out  of  San  Francisco 

—  and  an  ostensible  visit  —  still  as  a  specu 
lator  —  to   one  or  two  mining  districts  — 

—  with  her  broker.    This  was  the  boldest  of 


154  THREE  PARTNERS. 

her  steps  —  an  original  idea  of  the  fashion 
able  Van  Loo  —  which,  no  doubt,  in  time 
would  become  a  craze,  too.  But  it  was  a 
long  step  —  and  there  was  a  streak  of  rustic 
decorum  in  Mrs.  Barker's  nature  —  the  in 
stinct  that  made  Kitty  Carter  keep  a  per 
fectly  secluded  and  distinct  sitting-room  in 
the  days  when  she  served  her  father's  guests 
—  that  now  had  impelled  her  to  make  it  a 
proviso  that  the  first  step  of  her  journey 
should  be  from  her  old  home  in  her  father's 
hotel.  It  was  this  instinct  of  the  proprieties 
that  had  revived  in  her  suddenly  at  the  door 
of  the  old  sitting-room. 

Then  a  new  phase  of  the  situation  flashed 
upon  her.  It  was  hard  for  her  vanity  to 
accept  Van  Loo's  desertion  as  voluntary  and 
final.  What  if  that  hateful  woman  had 
lured  him  away  by  some  trick  or  artfully 
designed  message?  She  was  capable  of  such 
meanness  to  insure  the  fulfillment  of  her 
prophecy.  Or,  more  dreadful  thought,  what 
if  she  had  some  hold  on  his  affections  —  she 
had  said  that  he  had  pursued  her ;  or,  more 
infamous  still,  there  were  some  secret  un 
derstanding  between  them,  and  that  she  — 
Mrs.  Barker  —  was  the  dupe  of  them  both ! 


THREE  PARTNERS.  155 

What  was  she  doing  in  the  hotel  at  such  a 
moment  ?  What  was  her  story  of  going  to 
Hymettus  but  a  lie  as  transparent  as  her 
own  ?  The  tortures  of  jealousy,  which  is  as 
often  the  incentive  as  it  is  the  result  of  pas 
sion,  began  to  rack  her.  She  had  probably 
yet  known  no  real  passion  for  this  man ;  but 
with  the  thought  of  his  abandoning  her,  and 
the  conception  of  his  faithlessness,  came  the 
wish  to  hold  and  keep  him  that  was  danger 
ously  near  it.  What  if  he  were  even  then  in 
that  room,  the  room  where  she  had  said  she 
would  not  stay  to  be  insulted,  and  they,  thus 
secured  against  her  intrusion,  were  laughing 
at  her  now  ?  She  half  rose  at  the  thought, 
but  a  sound  of  a  horse's  hoofs  in  the  stable- 
yard  arrested  her.  She  ran  to  the  window 
which  gave  upon  it,  and,  crouching  down  be 
side  it,  listened  eagerly.  The  clatter  of 
hoofs  ceased  ;  the  stableman  was  talking  to 
some  one  ;  suddenly  she  heard  the  stable 
man  say,  "  Mrs.  Barker  is  here."  Her  heart 
leaped,  —  Van  Loo  had  returned. 

But  here  the  voice  of  the  other  man 
which  she  had  not  yet  heard  arose  for  the 
first  time  clear  and  distinct.  "  Are  you 
quite  sure  ?  I  did  n't  know  she  left  San 
Francisco." 


156  THREE  PARTNERS. 

The  room  reeled  around  her.  The  voice 
was  George  Barker's,  her  husband  !  "  Very 
well,"  he  continued.  "  You  need  n't  put  up 
my  horse  for  the  night.  I  may  take  her 
back  a  little  later  in  the  buggy." 

In  another  moment  she  had  swept  down 
the  passage,  and  burst  into  the  other  room. 
Mrs.  Horncastle  was  sitting  by  the  table 
with  a  book  in  her  hand.  She  started  as 
the  half-maddened  woman  closed  the  door, 
locked  it  behind  her,  and  cast  herself  on  her 
knees  at  her  feet. 

"  My  husband  is  here,"  she  gasped. 
"  What  shall  I  do  ?  In  Heaven's  name  help 
me!" 

"  Is  Van  Loo  still  here  ? "  said  Mrs. 
Horncastle  quickly. 

"  No  ;  gone.     He  went  when  I  came." 

Mrs.  Horncastle  caught  her  hand  and 
looked  intently  into  her  frightened  face. 
"  Then  what  have  you  to  fear  from  your 
husband  ?  "  she  said  abruptly. 

"  You  don't  understand.  He  did  n't  know 
I  was  here.  He  thought  me  in  San  Fran 
cisco." 

"  Does  he  know  it  now  ?  " 

"  Yes.     I  heard  the  stableman  tell  him. 


THESE  PAETNEES.  157 

Couldn't  you  say  I  came  here  with  you; 
that  we  were  here  together  ;  that  it  was  just 
a  little  freak  of  ours  ?  Oh,  do  !  " 

Mrs.  Horncastle  thought  a  moment. 
"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  we  '11  see  him  here  to 
gether." 

"  Oh  no  !  no  !  "  said  Mrs.  Barker  sud 
denly,  clinging  to  her  dress  and  looking 
fearfully  towards  the  door.  "  I  could  n't, 
could  n't  see  him  now.  Say  I  'm  sick,  tired 
out,  gone  to  my  room." 

"  But  you  '11  have  to  see  him  later,"  said 
Mrs.  Horncastle  wonderingly. 

"  Yes,  but  he  may  go  first.  I  heard  him 
tell  them  not  to  put  up  his  horse." 

"  Good !  "  said  Mrs.  Horncastle  sud 
denly.  "  Go  to  your  room  and  lock  the 
door,  and  I  '11  come  to  you  later.  Stop  ! 
Would  Mr.  Barker  be  likely  to  disturb  you 
if  I  told  him  you  would  like  to  be  alone  ?  " 

"  No,  he  never  does.  I  often  tell  him 
that." 

Mrs.  Horncastle  smiled  faintly.  "  Come, 
quick,  then,"  she  said,  "  for  he  may  come 
here  first." 

Opening  the  door  she  passed  into  the  half- 
dark  and  empty  hall.  "  Now  run !  "  She 


158  THREE  PARTNERS. 

heard  the  quick  rustle  of  Mrs.  Barker's  skirt 
die  away  in  the  distance,  the  opening  and 
shutting  of  a  door  —  silence  —  and  then 
turned  back  into  her  own  room. 

She  was  none  too  soon.  Presently  she 
heard  Barker's  voice  saying,  "  Thank  you,  I 
can  find  the  way,"  his  still  buoyant  step  on 
the  staircase,  and  then  saw  his  brown  curls 
rising  above  the  railing.  The  light  stream 
ing  through  the  open  door  of  the  sitting- 
room  into  the  half-lit  hall  had  partially 
dazzled  him,  and,  already  bewildered,  he 
was  still  more  dazzled  at  the  unexpected 
apparition  of  the  smiling  face  and  bright 
eyes  of  Mrs.  Horncastle  standing  in  the 
doorway. 

"  You  have  fairly  caught  us,"  she  said, 
with  charming  composure ;  "  but  I  had  half 
a  mind  to  let  you  wander  round  the  hotel  a 
little  longer.  Come  in."  Barker  followed 
her  in  mechanically,  and  she  closed  the  door. 
"  Now,  sit  down,"  she  said  gayly,  "  and  tell 
me  how  you  knew  we  were  here,  and  what 
you  mean  by  surprising  us  at  this  hour." 

Barker's  ready  color  always  rose  on  meet 
ing  Mrs.  Horncastle,  for  whom  he  enter 
tained  a  respectful  admiration,  not  without 


THEEE  PAETNEES.  159 

some  fear  of  her  worldly  superiority.  He 
flushed,  bowed,  and  stared  somewhat  blankly 
around  the  room,  at  the  familiar  walls,  at 
the  chair  from  which  Mrs.  Horncastle  had 
just  risen,  and  finally  at  his  wife's  glove, 
which  Mrs.  Horncastle  had  a  moment  before 
ostentatiously  thrown  on  the  table.  Seeing 
which  she  pounced  upon  it  with  assumed 
archness,  and  pretended  to  conceal  it. 

"  I  had  no  idea  my  wife  was  here,"  he 
said  at  last,  "  and  I  was  quite  surprised 
when  the  man  told  me,  for  she  had  not  writ 
ten  to  me  about  it."  As  his  face  was  bright 
ening,  she  for  the  first  time  noticed  that  his 
frank  gray  eyes  had  an  abstracted  look,  and 
there  was  a  faint  line  of  contraction  on  his 
youthful  forehead.  "  Still  less,"  he  added, 
"  did  I  look  for  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you. 
For  I  only  came  here  to  inquire  about  my 
old  partner,  Demorest,  who  arrived  from 
Europe  a  few  days  ago,  and  who  should, 
have  reached  Hymettus  early  this  afternoon. 
But  now  I  hear  he  came  all  the  way  by 
coach  instead  of  by  rail,  and  got  off  at  the 
cross-road,  and  we  must  have  passed  each 
other  on  the  different  trails.  So  my  journey 
would  have  gone  for  nothing,  only  that  I 


160  THREE  PARTNERS. 

now  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  going  back 
with  you  and  Kitty.  It  will  be  a  lovely 
drive  by  moonlight." 

Relieved  by  this  revelation,  it  was  easy 
work  for  Mrs.  Horncastle  to  launch  out  into 
a  playful,  tantalizing,  witty  —  but,  I  grieve 
to  say,  entirely  imaginative  —  account  of  her 
escapade  with  Mrs.  Barker.  How,  left  alone 
at  the  San  Francisco  hotel  while  their  gen 
tlemen  friends  were  enjoying  themselves  at 
Hymettus,  they  resolved  upon  a  little  trip, 
partly  for  the  purpose  of  looking  into  some 
small  investments  of  their  own,  and  partly 
for  the  fun  of  the  thing.  What  funny 
experiences  they  had  !  How,  in  particular, 
one  horrid  inquisitive,  vulgar  wretch  had 
been  boring  a  European  fellow  passenger 
who  was  going  to  Hymettus,  finally  asking 
him  where  he  had  come  from  last,  and  when 
he  answered  "  Hymettus,"  thought  the  man 
was  insulting  him  — 

"  But,"  interrupted  the  laughing  Barker, 
"  that  passenger  may  have  been  Demorest, 
who  has  just  come  from  Greece,  and  surely 
Kitty  would  have  recognized  him." 

Mrs.  Horncastle  instantly  saw  her  blun 
der,  and  not  only  retrieved  it,  but  turned  it 


THESE  PARTNERS.  161 

to  account.  Ah,  yes !  but  by  that  time  poor 
Kitty,  unused  to  long  journeys  and  the  heat, 
was  utterly  fagged  out,  was  asleep,  and  per 
fectly  unrecognizable  in  veils  and  dusters  on 
the  back  seat  of  the  coach.  And  this  brought 
her  to  the  point  —  which  was,  that  she  was 
sorry  to  say,  on  arriving,  the  poor  child  was 
nearly  wild  with  a  headache  from  fatigue 
and  had  gone  to  bed,  and  she  had  promised 
not  to  disturb  her. 

The  undisguised  amusement,  mingled  with 
relief,  that  had  overspread  Barker's  face 
during  this  lively  recital  might  have  pricked 
the  conscience  of  Mrs.  Horncastle,  but  for 
some  reason  I  fear  it  did  not.  But  it  em 
boldened  her  to  go  on.  "  I  said  I  promised 
her  that  I  would  see  she  was  n't  disturbed  ; 
but,  of  course,  now  that  you,  her  husband, 
have  come,  if  " 

"  Not  for  worlds,"  interrupted  Barker 
earnestly.  "  I  know  poor  Kitty's  headaches, 
and  I  never  disturb  her,  poor  child,  except 
when  I  'm  thoughtless."  And  here  one  of 
the  most  thoughtful  men  in  the  world  in  his 
sensitive  consideration  of  others  beamed  at 
her  with  such  frank  and  wonderful  eyes  that 
the  arch  hypocrite  before  him  with  difficulty 


162  THESE  PARTNERS. 

suppressed  a  hysterical  desire  to  laugh,  and 
felt  the  conscious  blood  flush  her  to  the  root 
of  her  hair.  "  You  know,"  he  went  on,  with 
a  sigh,  half  of  reh'ef  and  half  of  reminiscence, 
"  that  I  often  think  I  'm  a  great  bother  to 
a  clear-headed,  sensible  girl  like  Kitty.  She 
knows  people  so  much  better  than  I  do. 
She  's  wonderfully  equipped  for  the  world, 
and,  you  see,  I  'm  only  '  lucky,'  as  every 
body  says,  and  I  dare  say  part  of  my  luck 
was  to  have  got  her.  I  'm  very  glad  she 's 
a  friend  of  yours,  you  know,  for  somehow  I 
fancied  always  that  you  were  not  interested 
in  her,  or  that  you  did  n't  understand  each 
other  until  now.  It 's  odd  that  nice  women 
don't  always  like  nice  women,  is  n't  it  ?  I  'm 
glad  she  was  with  you ;  I  was  quite  startled 
to  learn  she  was  here,  and  could  n't  make 
it  out.  I  thought  at  first  she  might  have 
got  anxious  about  our  little  Sta,  who  is 
with  me  and  the  nurse  at  Hymettus.  But 
I  'm  glad  it  was  only  a  lark.  I  should  n't 
wonder,"  he  added,  with  a  laugh,  "  although 
she  always  declares  she  is  n't  one  of  those 
'  doting,  idiotic  mothers,'  that  she  found  it 
a  little  dull  without  the  boy,  for  all  she 
thought  it  was  better  for  me  to  take  him 
somewhere  for  a  change  of  air." 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  163 

The  situation  was  becoming  more  difficult 
for  Mrs.  Horncastle  than  she  had  conceived. 
There  had  been  a  certain  excitement  in  its 
first  direct  appeal  to  her  tact  and  courage, 
and  even,  she  believed,  an  unselfish  desire 
to  save  the  relations  between  husband  and 
wife  if  she  could.  But  she  had  not  calcu 
lated  upon  his  unconscious  revelations,  nor 
upon  their  effect  upon  herself.  She  had 
concluded  to  believe  that  Kitty  had,  in  a 
moment  of  folly,  lent  herself  to  this  hare 
brained  escapade,  but  it  now  might  be  pos 
sible  that  it  had  been  deliberately  planned. 
Kitty  had  sent  her  husband  and  child  away 
three  weeks  before.  Had  she  told  the  whole 
truth  ?  How  long  had  this  been  going  on  ? 
And  if  the  soulless  Van  Loo  had  deserted 
her  now,  was  it  not,  perhaps,  the  miserable 
ending  of  an  intrigue  rather  than  its  begin 
ning  ?  Had  she  been  as  great  a  dupe  of 
this  woman  as  the  husband  before  her?  A 
new  and  double  consciousness  came  over  her 
that  for  a  moment  prevented  her  from  meet 
ing  his  honest  eyes.  She  felt  the  shame  of 
being  an  accomplice  mingled  with  a  fierce 
joy  at  the  idea  of  a  climax  that  might  sepa 
rate  him  from  his  wife  forever. 


164  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Luckily  he  did  not  notice  it,  but  with  a 
continued  sense  of  relief  threw  himself  back 
in  his  chair,  and  glancing  familiarly  round 
the  walls  broke  into  his  youthful  laugh. 
"  Lord !  how  I  remember  this  room  in  the 
old  days.  It  was  Kitty's  own  private  sit 
ting-room,  you  know,  and  I  used  to  think  it 
looked  just  as  fresh  and  pretty  as  she.  I 
used  to  think  her  crayon  drawing  wonderful, 
and  still  more  wonderful  that  she  should 
have  that  unnecessary  talent  when  it  was 
quite  enough  for  her  to  be  just  '  Kitty.' 
You  know,  don't  you,  how  you  feel  at  those 
times  when  you  're  quite  happy  in  being  in 
ferior  "  He  stopped  a  moment  with  a 
sudden  recollection  that  Mrs.  Horncastle's 
marriage  had  been  notoriously  unhappy. 
"  I  mean,"  he  went  on  with  a  shy  little  laugh 
and  an  innocent  attempt  at  gallantry  which 
the  very  directness  of  his  simple  nature 
made  atrociously  obvious,  —  "I  mean  what 
you've  made  lots  of  young  fellows  feel. 
There  used  to  be  a  picture  of  Colonel  Brigg 
on  the  mantelpiece,  in  full  uniform,  and 
signed  by  himself  '  for  Kitty  ; '  and  Lord  ! 
how  jealous  I  was  of  it,  for  Kitty  never 
took  presents  from  gentlemen,  and  nobody 


4     THREE  PARTNERS.  165 

even  was  allowed  in  here,  though  she  helped 
her  father  all  over  the  hotel.  She  was  aw 
fully  strict  in  those  days,"  he  interpolated, 
with  a  thoughtful  look  and  a  half-sigh; 
"  but  then  she  was  n't  married.  I  proposed 
to  her  in  this  very  room  !  Lord  !  I  remem 
ber  how  frightened  I  was."  He  stopped 
for  an  instant,  and  then  said  with  a  certain 
timidity,  "  Do  you  mind  my  telling  you 
something  about  it  ?  " 

Mrs.  Horncastle  was  hardly  prepared  to 
hear  these  ingenuous  domestic  details,  but 
she  smiled  vaguely,  although  she  could  not 
suppress  a  somewhat  impatient  movement 
with  her  hands.  Even  Barker  noticed  it, 
but  to  her  surprise  moved  a  little  nearer  to 
her,  and  in  a  half-entreating  way  said,  "  I 
hope  I  don't  bore  you,  but  it 's  something 
confidential.  Do  you  know  that  she  first 
refused  me  ?  " 

Mrs.  Horncastle  smiled,  but  could  not  re 
sist  a  slight  toss  of  her  head.  "  I  believe 
they  all  do  when  they  are  sure  of  a  man." 

"  No !  "  said  Barker  eagerly,  "  you  don't 
understand.  I  proposed  to  her  because  I 
thought  I  was  rich.  In  a  foolish  moment 
I  thought  I  had  discovered  that  some  old 


166  THREE  PARTNERS.    ' 

stocks  I  had  had  acquired  a  fabulous  value. 
She  believed  it,  too,  but  because  she  thought 
I  was  now  a  rich  man  and  she  only  a  poor 
girl  —  a  mere  servant  to  her  father's  guests 
—  she  refused  me.  Refused  me  because 
she  thought  I  might  regret  it  in  the  future, 
because  she  would  not  have  it  said  that  she 
had  taken  advantage  of  my  proposal  only 
when  I  was  rich  enough  to  make  it." 

"  Well  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Horncastle  incredu 
lously,  gazing  straight  before  her ;  "  and 
then?" 

"  In  about  an  hour  I  discovered  my  error, 
that  my  stocks  were  worthless,  that  I  was 
still  a  poor  man.  I  thought  it  only  honest 
to  return  to  her  and  tell  her,  even  though  I 
had  no  hope.  And  then  she  pitied  me,  and 
cried,  and  accepted  me.  I  tell  it  to  you  as 
her  friend."  He  drew  a  little  nearer  and 
quite  fraternally  laid  his  hand  upon  her 
own.  "  I  know  you  won't  betray  me, 
though  you  may  think  it  wrong  for  me  to 
have  told  it ;  but  I  wanted  you  to  know  how 
good  she  was  and  true." 

For  a  moment  Mrs.  Horncastle  was 
amazed  and  discomfited,  although  she  saw, 
with  the  inscrutable  instinct  of  her  sex,  no 


THREE  PARTNEES.  167 

inconsistency  between  the  Kitty  of  those 
days  and  the  Kitty  now  shamefully  hiding 
from  her  husband  in  the  same  hotel.  No 
doubt  Kitty  had  some  good  reason  for  her 
chivalrous  act.  But  she  could  see  the  un 
mistakable  effect  of  that  act  upon  the  more 
logically  reasoning  husband,  and  that  it 
might  lead  him  to  be  more  merciful  to  the 
later  wrong.  And  there  was  a  keener  irony 
that  his  first  movement  of  unconscious  kind 
liness  towards  her  was  the  outcome  of  his 
affection  for  his  undeserving  wife. 

"  You  said  just  now  she  was  more  prac 
tical  than  you,"  she  said  dryly.  "  Apart 
from  this  evidence  of  it,  what  other  reasons 
have  you  for  thinking  so  ?  Do  you  refer  to 
her  independence  or  her  dealings  in  the 
stock  market  ?  "  she  added,  with  a  laugh. 

"  No,"  said  Barker  seriously,  "  for  I  do 
not  think  her  quite  practical  there ;  indeed, 
I  'm  afraid  she  is  about  as  bad  as  I  am. 
But  I  'm  glad  you  have  spoken,  for  I  can 
now  talk  confidentially  with  you,  and  as  you 
and  she  are  both  in  the  same  ventures,  per 
haps  she  will  feel  less  compunction  in  hear 
ing  from  you  —  as  your  own  opinion  —  what 
I  have  to  tell  you  than  if  I  spoke  to  her 


168  THREE  PARTNERS. 

myself.  I  am  afraid  she  trusts  implicitly  to 
Van  Loo's  judgment  as  her  broker.  I  be 
lieve  he  is  strictly  honorable,  but  the  general 
opinion  of  his  business  insight  is  not  high. 
They  —  perhaps  I  ought  to  say  he  —  have 
been  at  least  so  unlucky  that  they  might 
have  learned  prudence.  The  loss  of  twenty 
thousand  dollars  in  three  mouths  "  — 

"  Twenty  thousand !  "  echoed  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle. 

"  Yes.  Why,  you  knew  that ;  it  was  in 
the  mine  you  and  she  visited ;  or,  perhaps," 
he  added  hastily,  as  he  flushed  at  his  indis 
cretion,  "  she  did  n't  tell  you  that." 

But  Mrs.  Horncastle  as  hastily  said, 
"  Yes  —  yes  —  of  course,  only  I  had  for 
gotten  the  amount ;  "  and  he  continued :  — 

"  That  loss  would  have  frightened  any 
man  ;  but  you  women  are  more  daring. 
Only  Van  Loo  ought  to  have  withdrawn. 
Don't  you  think  so  ?  Of  course  I  could  n't 
say  anything  to  him  without  seeming  to  con 
demn  my  own  wife  ;  I  could  n't  say  anything 
to  her  because  it 's  her  own  money." 

"  I  did  n't  know  that  Mrs.  Barker  had 
any  money  of  her  own,"  said  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle. 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  169 

"  Well,  I  gave  it  to  her,"  said  Barker, 
with  sublime  simplicity,  "  and  that  would 
make  it  all  the  worse  for  me  to  speak  about 
it." 

Mrs.  Horncastle  was  silent.  A  new 
theory  flashed  upon  her  which  seemed  to  re 
concile  all  the  previous  inconsistencies  of  the 
situation.  Van  Loo,  under  the  guise  of  a 
lover,  was  really  possessing  himself  of  Mrs. 
Barker's  money.  This  accounted  for  the 
risks  he  was  running  in  this  escapade,  which 
were  so  incongruous  to  the  rascal's  nature. 
He  was  calculating  that  the  scandal  of  an 
intrigue  would  relieve  him  of  the  perils  of 
criminal  defalcation.  It  was  compatible  with 
Kitty's  innocence,  though  it  did  not  relieve 
her  vanity  of  the  part  it  played  in  this  de 
spicable  comedy  of  passion.  All  that  Mrs. 
Horncastle  thought  of  now  was  the  effect  of 
its  eventful  revelation  upon  the  man  before 
her.  Of  course,  he  would  overlook  his  wife's 
trustfulness  and  business  ignorance  --it 
would  seem  so  like  his  own  unselfish  faith ! 
That  was  the  fault  of  all  unselfish  goodness  ; 
it  even  took  the  color  of  adjacent  evil,  with 
out  altering  the  nature  of  either.  Mrs. 
Horncastle  set  her  teeth  tightly  together,  but 


170  THEEE  PARTNERS. 

her  beautiful  rnouth  smiled  upon  Barker, 
though  her  eyes  were  bent  upon  the  table 
cloth  before  her. 

"  I  shall  do  all  I  can  to  impress  your  views 
upon  her,"  she  said  at  last,  "  though  I  fear 
they  will  have  little  weight  if  given  as  my 
own.  And  you  overrate  my  general  influ 
ence  with  her." 

Her  handsome  head  drooped  in  such  a 
thoughtful  humility  that  Barker  instinctively 
drew  nearer  to  her.  Besides,  she  had  not 
lifted  her  dark  lashes  for  some  moments, 
and  he  had  the  still  youthful  habit  of  look 
ing  frankly  into  the  eyes  of  those  he  ad 
dressed. 

"  No,"  he  said  eagerly  ;  "  how  could  I  ? 
She  could  not  help  but  love  you  and  do  as 
you  would  wish.  I  can't  tell  you  how  glad 
and  relieved  I  am  to  find  that  you  and  she 
have  become  such  friends.  You  know  I 
always  thought  you  beautiful,  I  always 
thought  you  so  clever  —  I  was  even  a  little 
frightened  of  you;  but  I  never  until  now 
knew  you  were  so  good.  No,  stop !  Yes,  I 
did  know  it.  Do  you  remember  once  in 
San  Francisco,  when  I  found  you  with 
Sta  in  your  lap  in  the  drawing-room  ?  I 


THREE  PARTNERS.  171 

knew  it  then.  You  tried  to  make  me  think 
it  was  a  whim  —  the  fancy  of  a  bored  and 
worried  woman.  But  I  knew  better.  And 
I  knew  what  you  were  thinking  then.  Shall 
I  tell* you?" 

As  her  eyes  were  still  cast  down,  although 
her  mouth  was  still  smiling,  in  his  endeavors 
to  look  into  them  his  face  was  quite  near 
hers.  He  fancied  that  it  bore  the  look  she 
had  worn  once  before. 

"  You  were  thinking,"  he  said  in  a  voice 
which  had  grown  suddenly  quite  hesitating 
and  tremulous,  —  he  did  not  know  why,  — 
"  that  the  poor  little  baby  was  quite  friend 
less  and  alone.  You  were  pitying  it  — -  you 
know  you  were  —  because  there  was  no  one 
to  give  it  the  loving  care  that  was  its  due, 
and  because  it  was  intrusted  to  that  hired 
nurse  in  that  great  hotel.  You  were  think 
ing  how  you  would  love  it  if  it  were  yours, 
and  how  cruel  it  was  that  Love  was  sent 
without  an  object  to  waste  itself  upon.  You 
were  :  I  saw  it  in  your  face." 

She  suddenly  lifted  her  eyes  and  looked 
full  into  his  with  a  look  that  held  and  pos 
sessed  him.  For  a  moment  his  whole  soul 
seemed  to  tremble  on  the  verge  of  their  lus- 


172  THREE  PARTNERS. 

trous  depths,  and  he  drew  back  dizzy  and 
frightened.  What  he  saw  there  he  never 
clearly  knew ;  but,  whatever  it  was,  it  seemed 
to  suddenly  change  his  relations  to  her,  to 
the  room,  to  his  wife,  to  the  world  without. 
It  was  a  glimpse  of  a  world  of  which  he 
knew  nothing.  He  had  looked  frankly  and 
admiringly  into  the  eyes  of  other  pretty  wo 
men  ;  he  had  even  gazed  into  her  own  before, 
but  never  with  this  feeling.  A  sudden  sense 
that  what  he  had  seen  there  he  had  himself 
evoked,  that  it  was  an  answer  to  some  ques 
tion  he  had  scarcely  yet  formulated,  and  that 
they  were  both  now  linked  by  an  understand 
ing  and  consciousness  that  was  irretrievable, 
came  over  him.  He  rose  awkwardly  and 
went  to  the  window.  She  rose  also,  but 
more  leisurely  and  easily,  moved  one  of  the 
books  on  the  table,  smoothed  out  her  skirts, 
and  changed  her  seat  to  a  little  sofa.  It  is 
the  woman  who  always  comes  out  of  these 
crucial  moments  unruffled. 

"  I  suppose  you  will  be  glad  to  see  your 
friend  Mr.  Demorest  when  you  go  back," 
she  said  pleasantly  ;  "  for  of  course  he  will 
be  at  Hymettus  awaiting  you." 

He  turned  eagerly,  as  he  always  did  at 


THREE  PARTNERS.  173 

the  name.  But  even  then  he  felt  that  De- 
morest  was  no  longer  of  such  importance  to 
him.  He  felt,  too,  that  he  was  not  yet  quite 
sure  of  his  voice  or  even  what  to  say.  As 
he  hesitated  she  went  on  half  playfully :  "  It 
seems  hard  that  you  had  to  come  all  the 
way  here  on  such  a  bootless  errand.  You 
have  n't  even  seen  your  wife  yet." 

The  mention  of  his  wife  recalled  him  to 
himself,  oddly  enough,  when  Demorest's  name 
had  failed.  But  very  differently.  Out  of 
his  whirling  consciousness  came  the  instinc 
tive  feeling  that  he  could  not  see  her  now. 
He  turned,  crossed  the  room,  sat  down  on 
the  sofa  beside  Mrs.  Horncastle,  and  with 
out,  however,  looking  at  her,  said,  with  his 
eyes  on  the  floor,  "  No ;  and  I  've  been 
thinking  that  it 's  hardly  worth  while  to  dis 
turb  her  so  early  to-morrow  as  I  should  have 
to  go.  So  I  think  it 's  a  good  deal  better  to 
let  her  have  a  good  night's  rest,  remain  here 
quietly  with  you  to-morrow  until  the  stage 
leaves,  and  that  both  of  you  come  over  to 
gether.  My  horse  is  still  saddled,  and  I 
will  be  back  at  Hymettus  before  Demorest 
has  gone  to  bed." 

He  was  obliged  to  look  up  at  her  as  he 


174  THREE  PARTNERS. 

rose.  Mrs.  Horncastle  was  sitting  erect, 
beautiful  and  dazzling  as  even  he  had  never 
seen  her  before.  For  his  resolution  had 
suddenly  lifted  a  great  weight  from  her 
shoulders,  —  the  dangerous  meeting  of  hus 
band  and  wife  the  next  morning,  and  its 
results,  whatever  they  might  be,  had  been 
quietly  averted.  She  felt,  too,  a  half-fright 
ened  joy  even  in  the  constrained  manner  in 
which  he  had  imparted  his  determination. 
That  frankness  which  even  she  had  some 
times  found  so  crushing  was  gone. 

"  I  really  think  you  are  quite  right,"  she 
said,  rising  also,  "  and,  besides,  you  see,  it 
will  give  me  a  chance  to  talk  to  her  as  you 
wished." 

"  To  talk  to  her  as  I  wished  ? "  echoed 
Barker  abstractedly. 

"  Yes,  about  Van  Loo,  you  know,"  said 
Mrs.  Horncastle,  smiling. 

"  Oh,  certainly  —  about  Van  Loo,  of 
course,"  he  returned  hurriedly. 

"  And  then,"  said  Mrs.  Horncastle  bright 
ly,  "  I  '11  tell  her.  Stay  !  "  she  interrupted 
herself  hurriedly.  "  Why  need  I  say  any 
thing  about  your  having  been  here  at  all  ? 
It  might  only  annoy  her,  as  you  yourself  sug- 


THESE  PARTNERS.  175 

gest."  She  stopped  breathlessly  with  parted 
lips. 

"  Why,  indeed  ? "  said  Barker  vaguely. 
Yet  all  this  was  so  unlike  his  usual  truthful 
ness  that  he  slightly  hesitated. 

"  Besides,"  continued  Mrs.  Horncastle, 
noticing  it,  "  you  know  you  can  always  tell 
her  later,  if  necessary."  And  she  added  with 
a  charming  mischievousness,  "  As  she  did  n't 
tell  you  she  was  corning,  I  really  don't  see 
why  you  are  bound  to  tell  her  that  you  were 
here." 

The  sophistry  pleased  Barker,  even  though 
it  put  him  into  a  certain  retaliating  attitude 
towards  his  wife  which  he  was  not  aware  of 
feeling.  But,  as  Mrs.  Horncastle  put  it,  it 
was  only  a  playful  attitude. 

"  Certainly,"  he  said.  "  Don't  say  any 
thing  about  it." 

He  moved  to  the  door  with  his  soft,  broad- 
brimmed  hat  swinging  between  his  fingers. 
She  noticed  for  the  first  time  that  he  looked 
taller  in  his  long  black  serape  and  riding- 
boots,  and,  oddly  enough,  much  more  like 
the  hero  of  an  amorous  tryst  than  Van 
Loo.  "  I  know,"  she  said  brightly,  "  you 
are  eager  to  get  back  to  your  old  friend,  and 


176  THREE  PARTNERS. 

it  would  be  selfish  for  me  to  try  to  keep  you 
longer.  You  have  had  a  stupid  evening,  but 
you  have  made  it  pleasant  to  me  by  telling 
me  what  you  thought  of  me.  And  before 
you  go  I  want  you  to  believe  that  I  shall 
try  to  keep  that  good  opinion."  She  spoke 
frankly  in  contrast  to  the  slight  worldly  con 
straint  of  Barker's  manner  ;  it  seemed  as 
if  they  had  changed  characters.  And  then 
she  extended  her  hand. 

With  a  low  bow,  and  without  looking  up, 
he  took  it.  Again  their  pulses  seemed  to 
leap  together  with  one  accord  and  the  same 
mysterious  understanding.  He  could  not 
tell  if  he  had  unconsciously  pressed  her  hand 
or  if  she  had  returned  the  pressure.  But 
when  their  hands  unclasped  it  seemed  as  if 
it  were  the  division  of  one  flesh  and  spirit. 

She  remained  standing  by  the  open  door 
until  his  footsteps  passed  down  the  staircase. 
Then  she  suddenly  closed  and  locked  the 
door  with  an  instinct  that  Mrs.  Barker 
might  at  once  return  now  that  he  was  gone, 
and  she  wished  to  be  a  moment  alone  to 
recover  herself.  But  she  presently  opened 
it  again  and  listened.  There  was  a  noise  in 
the  courtyard,  but  it  sounded  like  the  rattle 


THREE  PARTNERS.  177 

of  wheels  more  than  the  clatter  of  a  horse 
man.  Then  she  was  overcome  —  a  sudden 
sense  of  pity  for  the  unfortunate  woman  still 
hiding  from  her  husband  —  and  felt  a  mo 
mentary  chivalrous  exaltation  of  spirit.  Cer 
tainly  she  had  done  "  good  "  to  that  wretched 
"  Kitty  ;  "  perhaps  she  had  earned  the  epi 
thet  that  Barker  had  applied  to  her.  Per 
haps  that  was  the  meaning  of  all  this  hap 
piness  to  her,  and  the  result  was  to  be  only 
the  happiness  and  reconciliation  of  the  wife 
and  husband.  This  was  to  be  her  reward. 
I  grieve  to  say  that  the  tears  had  come  into 
her  beautiful  eyes  at  this  satisfactory  conclu 
sion,  but  she  dashed  them  away  and  ran  out 
into  the  hall.  It  was  quite  dark,  but  there  was 
a  faint  glimmer  on  the  opposite  wall  as  if  the 
door  of  Mrs.  Barker's  bedroom  were  ajar  to 
an  eager  listener.  She  flew  towards  the 
glimmer,  and  pushed  the  door  open  :  the 
room  was  empty.  Empty  of  Mrs.  Barker, 
empty  of  her  dressing-box,  her  reticule  and 
shawl.  She  was  gone. 

Still,  Mrs.  Horncastle  lingered ;  the  wo 
man  might  have  got  frightened  and  retreated 
to  some  further  room  at  the  opening  of  the 
door  and  the  coming  out  of  her  husband. 


178  THREE  PARTNERS. 

She  walked  along  the  passage,  calling  her 
name  softly.  She  even  penetrated  the  dreary, 
half-lit  public  parlor,  expecting  to  find  her 
crouching  there.  Then  a  sudden  wild  idea 
took  possession  of  her :  the  miserable  wife 
had  repented  of  her  act  and  of  her  conceal 
ment,  and  had  crept  downstairs  to  await  her 
husband  in  the  office.  She  had  told  him 
some  new  lie,  had  begged  him  to  take  her 
with  him,  and  Barker,  of  course,  had  as 
sented.  Yes,  she  now  knew  why  she  had 
heard  the  rattling  wheels  instead  of  the 
clattering  hoofs  she  had  listened  for.  They 
had  gone  together,  as  he  first  proposed,  in 
the  buggy. 

She  ran  swiftly  down  the  stairs  and  en 
tered  the  office.  The  overworked  clerk  was 
busy  and  querulously  curt.  These  women 
were  always  asking  such  idiotic  questions. 
Yes,  Mr.  Barker  had  just  gone. 

"  With  Mrs.  Barker  in  the  buggy  ? " 
asked  Mrs.  Horncastle. 

"  No,  as  he  came  —  on  horseback.  Mrs. 
Barker  left  half  an  hour  ago" 

"Alone?" 

This  was  apparently  too  much  for  the 
long-suffering  clerk.  He  lifted  his  eyes  to 


THREE  PARTNERS.  179 

the  ceiling,  and  then,  with  painful  precision, 
and  accenting  every  word  with  his  pencil  on 
the  desk  before  him,  said  deliberately,  "  Mrs. 
George  Barker  —  left  —  here  —  with  her  — 
escort  —  the  —  man  she  —  was  —  always  — 
asking  —  for  —  in  —  the  —  buggy  —  at  ex 
actly —  9.35."  And  he  plunged  into  his 
work  again. 

Mrs.  Horncastle  turned,  ran  up  the 
staircase,  reentered  the  sitting-room,  and 
slamming  the  door  behind  her,  halted  in  the 
centre  of  the  room,  panting,  erect,  beauti 
ful,  and  menacing.  And  she  was  alone  in 
this  empty  room  —  this  deserted  hotel. 
From  this  very  room  her  husband  had  left 
her  with  a  brutality  on  his  lips.  From  this 
room  the  fool  and  liar  she  had  tried  to  warn 
had  gone  to  her  ruin  with  a  swindling  hypo 
crite.  And  from  this  room  the  only  man  in 
the  world. she  ever  cared  for  had  gone  forth 
bewildered,  wronged,  and  abused,  and  she 
knew  now  she  could  have  kept  and  com 
forted  him. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WHEN  Philip  Demorest  left  the  stage 
coach  at  the  cross-roads  he  turned  into  the 
only  wayside  house,  the  blacksmith's  shop, 
and,  declaring  his  intention  of  walking  over 
to  Hymettus,  asked  permission  to  leave  his 
hand-bag  and  wraps  until  they  could  be  sent 
after  him.  The  blacksmith  was  surprised 
that  this  "  likely  mannered,"  distinguished- 
looking  "  city  man  "  should  walk  eight  miles 
when  he  could  ride,  and  tried  to  dissuade 
him,  offering  his  own  buggy.  But  he  was 
still  more  surprised  when  Demorest,  laying 
aside  his  duster,  took  off  his  coat,  and,  sling 
ing  it  on  his  arm,  prepared  to  set  forth  with 
the  good-humored  assurance  that  he  would 
do  the  distance  in  a  couple  of  hours  and  get 
in  in  time  for  supper.  "  I  would  n't  be  too 
sure  of  that,"  said  the  blacksmith  grimly, 
"  or  even  of  getting  a  room.  They  're  a 
stuck-up  lot  over  there,  and  they  ain't  goin' 
to  hump  themselves  over  a  chap  who  comes 


THESE  PARTNERS.  181 

traipsin'  along  the  road  like  any  tramp,  with 
nary  baggage."  But  Demorest  laughingly 
accepted  the  risk,  and  taking  his  stout  stick 
in  one  hand,  pressed  a  gold  coin  into  the 
blacksmith's  palm,  which  was,  however,  de 
clined  with  such  reddening  promptness  that 
Demorest  as  promptly  reddened  and  apolo 
gized.  The  habits  of  European  travel  had 
been  still  strong  on  him,  and  he  felt  a  slight 
patriotic  thrill  as  he  said,  with  a  grave 
smile,  "  Thank  you,  then ;  and  thank  you 
still  more  for  reminding  me  that  I  am 
among  my  own  '  people,'  '  and  stepped 
lightly  out  into  the  road. 

The  air  was  still  deliciously  cool,  but 
warmer  currents  from  the  heated  pines  be 
gan  to  alternate  with  the  wind  from  the 
summit.  He  found  himself  sometimes  walk 
ing  through  a  stratum  of  hot  air  which 
seemed  to  exhale  from  the  wood  itself,  while 
his  head  and  breast  were  swept  by  the  moun 
tain  breeze.  He  felt  the  old  intoxication 
of  the  balmy-scented  air  again,  and  the  five 
years  of  care  and  hopelessness  laid  upon  his 
shoulders  since  he  had  last  breathed  its  fra 
grance  slipped  from  them  like  a  burden. 
There  had  been  but  little  change  here ;  per- 


182  TREES  PARTNERS. 

haps  the  road  was  wider  and  the  dust  lay 
thicker,  but  the  great  pines  still  mounted  in 
serried  ranks  on  the  slopes  as  before,  with 
no  gaps  in  their  unending  files.  Here  was 
the  spot  where  the  stagecoach  had  passed 
them  that  eventful  morning  when  they  were 
coming  out  of  their  camp-life  into  the  world 
of  civilization  ;  a  little  further  back,  the  spot 
where  Jack  Hamlin  had  forced  upon  him 
that  grim  memento  of  the  attempted  robbery 
of  their  cabin,  which  he  had  kept  ever  since. 
He  half  smiled  again  at  the  superstitious  in 
terest  that  had  made  him  keep  it,  with  the 
intention  of  some  day  returning  to  bury  it, 
with  all  recollections  of  the  deed,  under  the 
site  of  the  old  cabin.  As  he  went  on  in  the 
vivifying  influence  of  the  air  and  scene,  new 
life  seemed  to  course  through  his  veins  ;  his 
step  seemed  to  grow  as  elastic  as  in  the  old 
days  of  their  bitter  but  hopeful  struggle  for 
fortune,  when  he  had  gayly  returned  from 
his  weekly  tramp  to  Boomville  laden  with 
the  scant  provision  procured  by  their  scant 
earnings  and  dying  credit.  Those  were 
the  days  when  her  living  image  still  in 
spired  his  heart  with  faith  and  hope  ;  when 
everything  was  yet  possible  to  youth  and 


THREE  PARTNERS.  183 

love,  and  before  the  irony  of  fate  had  given 
him  fortune  with  one  hand  only  to  withdraw 
her  with  the  other.  It  was  strange  and 
cruel  that  coming  back  from  his  quest  of 
rest  and  forgetfulness  he  should  find  only 
these  youthful  and  sanguine  dreams  revive 
with  his  reviving  vigor.  He  walked  on 
more  hurriedly  as  if  to  escape  them,  and  was 
glad  to  be  diverted  by  one  or  two  carryalls 
and  char-arbancs  filled  with  gayly  dressed 
pleasure  parties  —  evidently  visitors  to  Hy- 
mettus  —  which  passed  him  on  the  road. 
Here  were  the  first  signs  of  change.  He 
recalled  the  train  of  pack-mules  of  the  old 
days,  the  file  of  pole-and-basket  carrying 
Chinese,  the  squaw  with  the  papoose  strapped 
to  her  shoulder,  or  the  wandering  and  foot 
sore  prospector,  who  were  the  only  wayfar 
ers  he  used  to  meet.  He  contrasted  their 
halts  and  friendly  greetings  with  the  inso 
lent  curiosity  or  undisguised  contempt  of  the 
carriage  folk,  and  smiled  as  he  thought  of 
the  warning  of  the  blacksmith.  But  this 
did  not  long  divert  him ;  he  found  himself 
again  returning  to  his  previous  thought. 
Indeed,  the  face  of  a  young  girl  in  one  of 
the  carriages  had  quite  startled  him  with  its 


184  THESE  PARTNERS. 

resemblance  to  an  old  memory  of  his  lost 
love  as  he  saw  her,  —  her  frail,  pale  ele 
gance  encompassed  in  laces  as  she  leaned 
back  in  her  drive  through  Fifth  Avenue, 
with  eyes  that  lit  up  and  became  transfig 
ured  only  as  he  passed.  He  tried  to  think 
of  his  useless  quest  in  search  of  her  last 
resting-place  abroad  ;  how  he  had  been  baf 
fled  by  the  opposition  of  her  surviving  re 
lations,  already  incensed  by  the  thought  that 
her  decline  had  been  the  effect  of  her  hope 
less  passion.  He  tried  to  recall  the  few 
frigid  lines  that  reconveyed  to  him  the  last 
letter  he  had  sent  her,  with  the  announce 
ment  of  her  death  and  the  hope  that  "  his 
persecutions "  would  now  cease.  A  wild 
idea  had  sometimes  come  to  him  out  of  the 
very  insufficiency  of  his  knowledge  of  this 
climax,  but  he  had  always  put  it  aside  as  a 
precursor  of  that  madness  which  might  end 
his  ceaseless  thought.  And  now  it  was  re 
turning  to  him,  here,  thousands  of  miles 
away  from  where  she  was  peacefully  sleep 
ing,  and  even  filling  him  with  the  vigor  of 
youthful  hope. 

The   brief  mountain  twilight  was  giving 
way  now  to  the  radiance  of  the  rising  moon. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  185 

He  endeavored  to  fix  his  thoughts  upon  his 
partners  who  were  to  meet  him  at  Hymettus 
after  these  long  years  of  separation. 

Hymettus  !  He  recalled  now  the  odd 
coincidence  that  he  had  mischievously  used 
as  a  gag  to  his  questioning  fellow  traveler ; 
but  now  he  had  really  come  from  a  villa 
near  Athens  to  find  his  old  house  thus  classi 
cally  rechristened  after  it,  and  thought  of  it 
with  a  gravity  he  had  not  felt  before.  He 
wondered  who  had  named  it.  There  was  no 
suggestion  of  the  soft,  sensuous  elegance  of 
the  land  he  had  left  in  those  great  heroics 
of  nature  before  him.  Those  enormous 
trees  were  no  woods  for  fauns  or  dryads ; 
they  had  their  own  godlike  majesty  of  bulk 
and  height,  and  as  he  at  last  climbed  the 
summit  and  saw  the  dark-helmeted  head  of 
Black  Spur  before  him,  and  beyond  it  the 
pallid,  spiritual  cloud  of  the  Sierras,  he  did 
not  think  of  Olympus.  Yet  for  a  moment 
he  was  startled,  as  he  turned  to  the  right, 
by  the  Doric-columned  facade  of  a  temple 
painted  by  the  moonbeams  and  framed  in 
an  opening  of  the  dark  woods  before  him. 
It  was  not  until  he  had  reached  it  that  he 
saw  that  it  was  the  new  wooden  post-office 
of  Heavy  Tree  Hill. 


186  THESE  PAETNEES. 

And  now  the  buildings  of  the  new  set 
tlement  began  to  faintly  appear.  But  the 
obscurity  of  the  shadow  and  the  equally  dis 
turbing  unreality  of  the  moonlight  confused 
him  in  his  attempts  to  recognize  the  old 
landmarks.  A  broad  and  well-kept  winding 
road  had  taken  the  place  of  the  old  steep, 
but  direct  trail  to  his  cabin.  He  had 
walked  for  some  moments  in  uncertainty, 
when  a  sudden  sweep  of  the  road  brought 
the  full  crest  of  the  hill  above  and  before 
him,  crowned  with  a  tiara  of  lights,  over 
topping  a  long  base  of  flashing  windows. 
That  was  all  that  was  left  of  Heavy  Tree 
Hill.  The  old  foreground  of  buckeye  and 
odorous  ceanothus  was  gone.  Even  the  great 
grove  of  pines  behind  it  had  vanished. 

There  was  already  a  stir  of  life  in  the 
road,  and  he  could  see  figures  moving  slowly 
along  a  kind  of  sterile,  formal  terrace  spread 
with  a  few  dreary  marble  vases  and  plaster 
statues  which  had  replaced  the  natural  slope 
and  the  great  quartz  buttresses  of  outcrop 
that  supported  it.  Presently  he  entered  a 
gate,  and  soon  found  himself  in  the  carriage 
drive  leading  to  the  hotel  veranda.  A  num 
ber  of  fair  promenaders  were  facing  the 


THREE  PARTNERS.  187 

keen  mountain  night  wind  in  wraps  and 
furs.  Demorest  had  replaced  his  coat,  but 
his  boots  were  red  with  dust,  and  as  he 
ascended  the  steps  he  could  see  that  he  was 
eyed  with  some  superciliousness  by  the 
guests  and  with  considerable  suspicion  by 
the  servants.  One  of  the  latter  was  ap 
proaching  him  with  an  insolent  smile  when  a 
figure  darted  from  the  vestibule,  and,  brush 
ing  the  waiter  aside,  seized  Demorest' s  two 
hands  in  his  and  held  him  at  arm's  length. 

"  Demorest,  old  man !  " 

"  Stacy,  old  chap !  " 

"  But  where  's  your  team  ?  I  've  had  all 
the  spare  hostlers  and  hall-boys  listening  for 
you  at  the  gate.  And  where 's  Barker  ? 
When  he  found  you  'd  given  the  dead-cut  to 
the  railroad  —  his  railroad,  you  know  —  he 
loped  over  to  Boomville  after  you." 

Demorest  briefly  explained  that  he  had 
walked  by  the  old  road  and  probably  missed 
him.  But  by  this  time  the  waiters,  crushed 
by  the  spectacle  of  this  travel- worn  stranger's 
affectionate  reception  by  the  great  financial 
magnate,  were  wildly  applying  their  brushes 
and  handkerchiefs  to  his  trousers  and  boots 
until  Stacy  again  swept  them  away. 


188  THREE  PAETNERS. 

"Get  off,  all  of  you!  Now,  Phil,  you 
come  with  me.  The  house  is  full,  but  I  've 
made  the  manager  give  you  a  lady's  drawing- 
room  suite.  When  you  telegraphed  you  'd 
meet  us  here  there  was  no  chance  to  get 
anything  else.  It 's  really  Mrs.  Van  Loo's 
family  suite ;  but  they  were  sent  for  to  go 
to  Marysville  yesterday,  and  so  we  '11  run 
you  in  for  the  night." 

"  But  "   —  protested  Demorest. 

"  Nonsense  !  "  said  Stacy,  dragging  him 
away.  "  We  '11  pay  for  it ;  and  I  reckon 
the  old  lady  won't  object  to  taking  her  share 
of  the  damage  either,  or  she  is  n't  Van  Loo's 
mother.  Come." 

Demorest  felt  himself  hurried  forward  by 
the  energetic  Stacy,  preceded  by  the  obse 
quious  manager,  through  a  corridor  to  a 
handsomely  furnished  suite,  into  whose  bath 
room  Stacy  incontinently  thrust  him. 

"  There !  Wash  up  ;  and  by  the  time 
you  're  ready  Barker  ought  to  be  back,  and 
we  '11  have  supper.  It 's  waiting  for  us  in 
the  other  room." 

"  But  how  about  Barker,  the  dear  boy  ?  " 
persisted  Demorest,  holding  open  the  door. 
"  Tell  me,  is  he  well  and  happy  ?  " 


THESE  PAETNERS.  189 

"  About  as  well  as  we  all  are,"  said  Stacy 
quickly,  yet  with  a  certain  dry  significance. 
"  Never  mind  now ;  wait  until  you  see  him." 

The  door  closed.  When  Demorest  had 
finished  washing,  and  wiped  away  the  last 
red  stain  of  the  mountain  road,  he  found 
Stacy  seated  by  the  window  of  the  larger 
sitting-room.  In  the  centre  a  table  was 
spread  for  supper.  A  bright  fire  of  hickory 
logs  burnt  on  a  marble  hearth  between  two 
large  windows  that  gave  upon  the  distant 
outline  of  Black  Spur.  As  Stacy  turned 
towards  him,  by  the  light  of  the  shaded 
lamp  and  flickering  fire,  Demorest  had  a 
good  look  at  the  face  of  his  old  friend  and 
partner.  It  was  as  keen  and  energetic  as 
ever,  with  perhaps  an  even  more  hawk-like 
activity  visible  in  the  eye  and  nostril ;  but  it 
was  more  thoughtful  and  reticent  in  the 
lines  of  the  mouth  under  the  closely  clipped 
beard  and  mustache,  and  when  he  looked 
up,  at  first  there  were  two  deep  lines  or  fur 
rows  across  his  low  broad  forehead.  De 
morest  fancied,  too,  that  there  was  a  little  of 
the  old  fighting  look  in  his  eye,  but  it  soft 
ened  quickly  as  his  friend  approached,  and 
he  burst  out  with  his  curt  but  honest  single- 


190  THREE  PARTNERS. 

syllabled  laugh.  "  Ha !  You  look  a  little 
less  like  a  roving  Apache  than  you  did  when 
you  came.  I  really  thought  the  waiters 
were  going  to  chuck  you.  And  you  are 
tanned !  Darned  if  you  don't  look  like  the 
profile  stamped  on  a  Continental  penny ! 
But  here  's  luck  and  a  welcome  back,  old 


man 


I " 


Demorest  passed  his  arm  around  the  neck 
of  his  seated  partner,  and  grasping  his  up 
raised  hand  said,  looking  down  with  a  smile, 
"  And  now  about  Barker." 

"  Oh,  Barker,  d — n  him  !  He  's  the 
same  unshakable,  unchangeable,  ungrow-up- 
able  Barker  !  With  the  devil's  own  luck, 
too !  Waltzing  into  risks  and  waltzing  out 
of  'em.  With  fads  enough  to  put  him  in 
the  insane  asylum  if  people  did  not  prefer 
to  keep  him  out  of  it  to  help  'em.  Always 
believing  in  everybody,  until  they  actually 
believe  in  themselves,  and  —  shake  him  ! 
And  he 's  got  a  wife  that 's  making  a  fool 
of  herself,  and  I  shouldn't  wonder  in  time 
-of  him!" 

Demorest  pressed  his  hand  over  his  part 
ner's  mouth.  "Come,  Jim!  You  know  you 
never  really  liked  that  marriage,  simply  be- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  191 

cause  you  thought  that  old  man  Carter  made 
a  good  thing  of  it.  And  you  never  seem  to 
have  taken  into  consideration  the  happiness 
Barker  got  out  of  it.  For  he  did  love  the 
girl.  And  he  still  is  happy,  is  he  not  ?  "  he 
added  quickly,  as  Stacy  uttered  a  grunt. 

"  As  happy  as  a  man  can  be  who  has  his 
child  here  with  a  nurse  while  his  wife  is 
gallivanting  in  San  Francisco,  and  throwing 
her  money  —  and  Lord  knows  what  else  — 
away  at  the  bidding  of  a  smooth-tongued, 
shady  operator." 

"  Does  he  complain  of  it  ?  "  asked  Demo- 
rest. 

"Not  he;  the  fool  trusts  her!"  said 
Stacy  curtly. 

Demorest  laughed.  "  That  is  happiness ! 
Come,  Jim  !  don't  let  us  begrudge  him  that. 
But  I  've  heard  that  his  affairs  have  again 
prospered." 

"  He  built  this  railroad  and  this  hotel. , 
The  bank  owns  both  now.  He  did  n't  care 
to  keep  money  in  them  after  they  were  a 
success ;  said  he  was  n't  an  engineer  nor  a 
hotel-keeper,  and  drew  it  out  to  find  some 
thing  new.  But  here  he  comes,"  he  added, 
as  a  horseman  dashed  into  the  drive  before 


192  THESE  PARTNERS. 

the  hotel.  "  Question  him  yourself.  You 
know  you  and  he  always  get  along  best 
without  me." 

In  another  moment  Barker  had  burst  into 
the  room,  and  in  his  first  tempestuous  greet 
ing  of  Demorest  the  latter  saw  little  change 
in  his  younger  partner  as  he  held  him  at 
arm's  length  to  look  at  him.  "  Why, 
Barker  boy,  you  have  n't  got  a  bit  older 
since  the  day  when  —  you  remember  —  you 
went  over  to  Boomville  to  cash  your  bonds, 
and  then  came  back  and  burst  upon  us  like 
this  to  tell  us  you  were  a  beggar." 

"Yes,"  laughed  Barker,  "and  all  the 
while  you  fellows  were  holding  four  aces  up 
your  sleeve  in  the  shape  of  the  big  strike." 

"And  you,  Georgy,  old  boy,"  returned 
Demorest,  swinging  Barker's  two  hands 
backwards  and  forwards,  "  were  holding  a 
royal  flush  up  yours  in  the  shape  of  your 
engagement  to  Kitty." 

The  fresh  color  died  out  of  Barker's 
cheek  even  while  the  frank  laugh  was  still 
on  his  mouth.  He  turned  his  face  for  a 
moment  towards  the  window,  and  a  swift 
and  almost  involuntary  glance  passed  be 
tween  the  others.  But  he  almost  as  quickly 


THEEE  PAETNEES.  193 

turned  his  glistening  eyes  back  to  Demorest 
again,  and  said  eagerly,  "  Yes,  dear  Kitty ! 
You  shall  see  her  and  the  baby  to-morrow." 
Then  they  fell  upon  the  supper  with  the 
appetites  of  the  Past,  and  for  some  moments 
they  all  talked  eagerly  and  even  noisily  to 
gether,  all  at  the  same  time,  with  even  the 
spirits  of  the  Past.  They  recalled  every 
detail  of  their  old  life  ;  eagerly  and  impetu 
ously  recounted  the  old  struggles,  hopes,  and 
disappointments,  gave  the  strange  impor 
tance  of  schoolboys  to  unimportant  events, 
and  a  mystic  meaning  to  a  shibboleth  of 
their  own ;  roared  over  old  jokes  with  a 
delight  they  had  never  since  given  to  new  ; 
reawakened  idiotic  nicknames  and  bywords 
with  intense  enjoyment ;  grew  grave,  anxious, 
and  agonized  over  forgotten  names,  trifling 
dates,  useless  distances,  ineffective  records, 
and  feeble  chronicles  of  their  domestic  econ 
omy.  It  was  the  thoughtful  and  melancholy 
Demorest  who  remembered  the  exact  color 
and  price  paid  for  a  certain  shirt  bought 
from  a  Greaser  peddler  amidst  the  envy  of 
his  companions ;  it  was  the  financial  mag 
nate,  Stacy,  who  could  inform  them  what 
were  the  exact  days  they  had  saleratus  bread 


194  THREE  PARTNERS. 

and  when  flapjacks ;  it  was  the  thoughtless 
and  mercurial  Barker  who  recalled  with  un 
heard-of  accuracy,  amidst  the  applause  of 
the  others,  the  full  name  of  the  Indian  squaw 
who  assisted  at  their  washing.  Even  then 
they  were  almost  feverishly  loath  to  leave  the 
subject,  as  if  the  Past,  at  least,  was  secure 
to  them  still,  and  they  were  even  doubtful 
of  their  own  free  and  full  accord  in  the 
Present.  Then  they  slipped  rather  reluc 
tantly  into  their  later  experiences,  but  with 
scarcely  the  same  freedom  or  spontaneity ; 
and  it  was  noticeable  that  these  records 
were  elicited  from  Barker  by  Stacy  or  from 
Stacy  by  Barker  for  the  information  of 
Demorest,  often  with  chaffing  and  only  un 
der  good-humored  protest.  "  Tell  Demorest 
how  you  broke  the  '  Copper  Ring,'  "  from 
the  admiring  Barker,  or,  "  Tell  Demorest 
how  your  d — d  foolishness  in  buying  up  the 
right  and  plant  of  the  Ditch  Company  got 
you  control  of  the  railroad,"  from  the  mis 
chievous  Stacy,  were  challenges  in  point. 
Presently  they  left  the  table,  and,  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  waiters  who  removed 
the  cloth,  common  brier-wood  pipes,  thought 
fully  provided  by  Barker  in  commemoration 


THREE  PARTNERS.  195 

of  the  Past,  were  lit,  and  they  ranged  them 
selves  in  armchairs  before  the  fire  quite 
unconsciously  in  their  old  attitudes.  The 
two  windows  on  either  side  of  the  hearth 
gave  them  the  same  view  that  the  open  door 
of  the  old  cabin  had  made  familiar  to  them, 
the  league-long  valley  below  the  shadowy 
bulk  of  the  Black  Spur  rising  in  the  dis 
tance,  and,  still  more  remote,  the  pallid 
snow-line  that  soared  even  beyond  its  crest. 

As  in  the  old  time,  they  were  for  many 
moments  silent ;  and  then,  as  in  the  old 
time,  it  was  the  irrepressible  Barker  who 
broke  the  silence.  "But  Stacy  does  not  tell 
you  anything  about  his  friend,  the  beautiful 
Mrs.  Horncastle.  You  know  he  's  the  guard 
ian  of  one  of  the  finest  women  in  California 
—  a  woman  as  noble  and  generous  as  she  is 
handsome.  And  think  of  it !  He 's  protect 
ing  her  from  her  brute  of  a  husband,  and 
looking  after  her  property.  Is  n't  it  good 
and  chivalrous  of  him  ?  " 

The  irrepressible  laughter  of  the  two  men 
brought  only  wonder  and  reproachful  indig 
nation  into  the  widely  opened  eyes  of  Barker. 
He  was  perfectly  sincere.  He  had  been 
thinking  of  Stacy's  admiration  for  Mrs. 


196  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Horncastle  in  his  ride  from  Boomville,  and, 
strange  to  stay,  yet  characteristic  of  his 
nature,  it  was  equally  the  natural  outcome 
of  his  interview  with  her  and  the  singular 
effect  she  had  upon  him.  That  he  (Barker) 
thoroughly  sympathized  with  her  only  con 
vinced  him  that  Stacy  must  feel  the  same 
for  her,  and  that,  no  doubt,  she  must  re 
spond  to  him  equally.  And  how  noble  it 
was  in  his  old  partner,  with  his  advantages 
of  position  in  the  world  and  his  protecting 
relations  to  her,  not  to  avail  himself  of  this 
influence  upon  her  generous  nature.  If  he 
himself  —  a  married  man  and  the  husband 
of  Kitty — was  so  conscious  of  her  charm, 
how  much  greater  it  must  be  to  the  free 
and  inexperienced  Stacy. 

The  italics  were  in  Barker's  thought ;  for 
in  those  matters  he  felt  that  Stacy  and  even 
Demorest,  occupied  in  other  things,  had  not 
his  knowledge.  There  was  no  idea  of  con 
sciousness  or  heroically  sacrificing  himself  or 
Mrs.  Horncastle  in  this.  I  am  afraid  there 
was  not  even  an  idea  of  a  superior  morality 
in  himself  in  giving  up  the  possibility  of 
loving  her.  Ever  since  Stacy  had  first  seen 
her  he  had  fancied  that  Stacy  liked  her,  — 


THESE  PARTNERS.  197 

indeed,  Kitty  fancied  it,  too,  —  and  it  seemed 
almost  providential  now  that  he  should  know 
how  to  assist  his  old  partner  to  happiness. 
For  it  was  inconceivable  that  Stacy  should 
not  be  able  to  rescue  this  woman  from  her 
shameful  bonds,  or  that  she  should  not  con 
sent  to  it  through  his  (Barker's)  arguments 
and  entreaties.  To  a  "  champion  of  dames  " 
this  seemed  only  right  and  proper.  In  his 
unfailing  optimism  he  translated  Stacy's 
laugh  as  embarrassment  and  Demorest's  as 
only  ignorance  of  the  real  question.  But 
Demorest  had  noticed,  if  he  had  not,  that 
Stacy's  laugh  was  a  little  nervously  pro 
longed  for  a  man  of  his  temperament,  and 
that  he  had  cast  a  very  keen  glance  at 
Barker.  A  messenger  arriving  with  a  tele 
gram  brought  from  Boomville  called  Stacy 
momentarily  away,  and  Barker  was  not  slow 
to  take  advantage  of  his  absence. 

"  I  wish,  Phil,"  he  said,  hitching  his  chair 
closer  to  Demorest,  "  that  you  would  think 
seriously  of  this  matter,  and  try  to  persuade 
Stacy  —  who,  I  believe,  is  more  interested 
in  Mrs.  Horncastle  than  he  cares  to  show  — 
to  put  a  little  of  that  determination  in  love 
that  he  has  shown  in  business.  She  's  an 


198  THREE  PARTNERS. 

awfully  fine  woman,  and  in  every  way  suited 
to  him,  and  he  is  letting  an  absurd  sense  of 
pride  and  honor  keep  him  from  influencing 
her  to  get  rid  of  her  impossible  husband. 
There 's  no  reason,"  continued  Barker  in 
a  burst  of  enthusiastic  simplicity,  "that 
because  she  has  found  some  one  she  likes 
better,  and  who  would  treat  her  better,  that 
she  should  continue  to  stick  to  that  beast 
whom  all  California  would  gladly  see  her 
divorced  from.  I  never  could  understand 
that  kind  of  argument,  could  you  ?  " 

Demorest  looked  at  his  companion's  glow 
ing  cheek  and  kindling  eye  with  a  smile. 
"  A  good  deal  depends  upon  the  side  from 
which  you  argue.  But,  frankly,  Barker 
boy,  though  I  think  I  know  you  in  all  your 
phases,  I  am  not  prepared  yet  to  accept  you 
as  a  match-maker  !  However,  I  '11  think  it 
over,  and  find  out  something  more  of  this 
from  your  goddess,  who  seems  to  have  be 
witched  you  both.  But  what  does  Mistress 
Kitty  say  to  your  admiration  ?  " 

Barker's  face  clouded,  but  instantly  bright 
ened.  "  Oh,  they  're  the  best  of  friends  ; 
they  're  quite  like  us,  you  know,  even  to 
larks  they  have  together."  He  stopped  and 


THREE  PARTNERS.  199 

colored  at  his  slip.  But  Demorest,  who  had 
noticed  his  change  of  expression,  was  more 
concerned  at  the  look  of  half  incredulity  and 
half  suspicion  with  which  Stacy,  who  had 
reentered  the  room  in  time  to  hear  Bar 
ker's  speech,  was  regarding  his  unconscious 
younger  partner. 

"  I  did  n't  know  that  Mrs.  Horncastle  and 
Mrs.  Barker  were  such  friends,"  he  said 
dryly  as  he  sat  down  again.  But  his  face 
presently  became  so  abstracted  that  Demo- 
rest  said  gayly :  — 

"  Well,  Jim,  I  'm  glad  I  'm  not  a  Napo 
leon  of  Finance !  I  could  n't  stand  it  to 
have  my  privacy  or  my  relaxation  broken  in 
upon  at  any  moment,  as  yours  was  just  now. 
What  confounded  somersault  in  stocks  has 
put  that  face  on  you  ?  " 

Stacy  looked  up  quickly  with  his  brief 
laugh.  "  I  'm  afraid  you  'd  be  none  the 
wiser  if  I  told  you.  That  was  a  pony  ex 
press  messenger  from  New  York.  You  re 
member  how  Barker,  that  night  of  the  strike, 
when  we  were  sitting  together  here,  or  very 
near  here,  proposed  that  we  ought  to  have  a 
password  or  a  symbol  to  call  us  together  in 
case  of  emergency,  for  each  other's  help? 


200  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Well,  let  us  say  I  have  two  partners,  one  in 
Europe  and  one  in  New  York.  That  was 
my  password." 

"  And,  I  hope,  no  more  serious  than  ours," 
added  Demorest. 

Stacy  laughed  his  short  laugh.  Never 
theless,  the  conversation  dragged  again.  The 
feverish  gayety  of  the  early  part  of  the  even 
ing  was  gone,  and  they  seemed  to  be  suffer 
ing  from  the  reaction.  They  fell  into  their 
old  attitudes,  looking  from  the  firelight  to 
the  distant  bulk  of  Black  Spur  without  a 
word.  The  occasional  sound  of  the  voices  of 
promenaders  on  the  veranda  at  last  ceased  ; 
there  was  the  noise  of  the  shutting  of  heavy 
doors  below,  and  Barker  rose. 

"  You  '11  excuse  me,  boys  ;  but  I  must  go 
and  say  good-night  to  little  Sta,  and  see  that 
he's  all  right.  I  haven't  seen  him  since 
I  got  back.  But "  —  to  Demorest  —  "  you  '11 
see  him  to-morrow,  when  Kitty  comes.  It  is 
as  much  as  my  life  is  worth  to  show  him 
before  she  certifies  him  as  being  presentable." 
He  paused,  and  then  added :  "  Don't  wait  up, 
you  fellows,  for  me ;  sometimes  the  little  chap 
won't  let  me  go.  It 's  as  if  he  thought,  now 
Kitty 's  away,  I  was  all  he  had.  But  I  '11 


THREE  PAETNEES.  201 

be  up  early  in  the  morning  and  see  you.  I 
dare  say  you  and  Stacy  have  a  heap  to  say  to 
each  other  on  business,  and  you  won't  miss 
me.  So  I  '11  say  good-night."  He  laughed 
lightly,  pressed  the  hands  of  his  partners  in 
his  usual  hearty  fashion,  and  went  out  of  the 
room,  leaving  the  gloom  a  little  deeper  than 
before.  It  was  so  unusual  for  Barker  to  be 
the  first  to  leave  anybody  or  anything  in 
trouble  that  they  both  noticed  it.  "  But  for 
that,"  said  Demorest,  turning  to  Stacy  as  the 
door  closed,  "  I  should  say  the  dear  fellow 
was  absolutely  unchanged.  But  he  seemed 
a  little  anxious  to-night." 

"I  should  n't  wonder.  He  's  got  two 
women  on  his  mind,  —  as  if  one  was  not 
enough." 

"  I  don't  understand.  You  say  his  wife 
is  foolish,  and  this  other  " 

"  Never  mind  that  now,"  interrupted 
Stacy,  getting  up  and  putting  down  his 
pipe.  "  Let 's  talk  a  little  business.  That 
other  stuff  will  keep." 

"  By  all  means,"  said  Demorest,  with  a 
smile,  settling  down  into  his  chair  a  little 
wearily,  however.  "  I  forgot  business.  And 
I  forgot,  my  dear  Jim,  to  congratulate  you. 


202  THREE  PARTNERS. 

I  've  heard  all  about  you,  even  in  New  York. 
You  're  the  man  who,  according  to  every 
body,  now  holds  the  finances  of  the  Pacific 
Slope  in  his  hands.  And,"  he  added,  lean 
ing  affectionately  towards  his  old  partner, 
"  I  don't  know  any  one  better  equipped  in 
honesty,  straightforwardness,  and  courage  for 
such  a  responsibility  than  you." 

"  I  only  wish,"  said  Stacy,  looking  thought 
fully  at  Demorest,  "  that  I  did  n't  hold 
nearly  a  million  of  your  money  included  in 
the  finances  of  the  Pacific  Slope." 

"  Why,"  said  the  smiling  Demorest,  "  as 
long  as  I  am  satisfied  ?  " 

"  Because  /am  not.  If  you  're  satisfied, 
I  'm  a  wretched  idiot  and  not  fit  for  my 
position.  Now,  look  here,  Phil.  When  you 
wrote  me  to  sell  out  your  shares  in  the 
Wheat  Trust  I  was  a  little  staggered.  I 
knew  your  gait,  my  boy,  and  I  knew,  too, 
that,  while  you  did  n't  know  enough  to  trust 
your  own  opinions  or  feeling,  you  knew  too 
much  to  trust  any  one's  opinion  that  was  n't 
first-class.  So  I  reckoned  you  had  the 
straight  tip ;  but  /  did  n't  see  it.  Now,  I 
ought  not  to  have  been  staggered  if  I  was 
fit  for  your  confidence,  or,  if  I  was  staggered, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  203 

I  ought  to  have  had  enough  confidence  in 
myself  not  to  mind  you.  See  ?  " 

"  I  admit  your  logic,  old  man,"  said  De- 
morest,  with  an  amused  face,  "  but  I  don't 
see  your  premises.  WTien  did  I  tell  you  to 
seU  out  ?  " 

"  Two  days  ago.  You  wrote  just  after 
you  arrived." 

"  I  have  never  written  to  you  since  I 
arrived.  I  only  telegraphed  to  you  to  know 
where  we  should  meet,  and  received  your 
message  to  come  here." 

"You  never  wrote  me  from  San  Fran 
cisco  ?  " 

"  Never." 

Stacy  looked  concernedly  at  his  friend. 
Was  he  in  his  right  mind  ?  He  had  heard 
of  cases  where  melancholy  brooding  on  a 
fixed  idea  had  affected  the  memory.  He 
took  from  his  pocket  a  letter  -  case,  and 
selecting  a  letter  handed  it  to  Demorest 
without  speaking. 

Demorest  glanced  at  it,  turned  it  over, 
read  its  contents,  and  in  a  grave  voice  said, 
"  There  is  something  wrong  here.  It  is  like 
my  handwriting,  but  I  never  wrote  the  let 
ter,  nor  has  it  been  in  my  hand  before." 


204  THESE  PARTNERS. 

Stacy  sprang  to  his  side.  "  Then  it 's  a 
forgery !  " 

"  Wait  a  moment."  Demorest,  who,  al 
though  very  grave,  was  the  more  collected 
of  the  two,  went  to  a  writing-desk,  selected  a 
sheet  of  paper,  and  took  up  a  pen.  "  Now," 
he  said,  "  dictate  that  letter  to  me." 

Stacy  began,  Demorest's  pen  rapidly  fol 
lowing  him :  — 

"  DEAR  JIM,  —  On  receipt  of  this  get  rid 
of  my  Wheat  Trust  shares  at  whatever  fig 
ure  you  can.  From  the  way  things  pointed 
in  New  York  "  — 

"  Stop !  "  interrupted  Demorest. 

"  Well  ?  "  said  Stacy  impatiently. 

"  Now,  my  dear  Jim,"  said  Demorest 
plaintively,  "  when  did  you  ever  know  me 
to  write  such  a  sentence  as  '  the  way  things 
pointed '  ?  " 

"  Let  me  finish  reading,"  said  Stacy. 
This  literary  sensitiveness  at  such  a  moment 
seemed  little  short  of  puerility  to  the  man  of 
business. 

"  From  the  way  things  pointed  in  New 
York,"  continued  Stacy,  "  and  from  pri 
vate  advices  received,  this  seems  to  be  the 
only  prudent  course  before  the  feathers 


THREE  PAETNEES.  205 

begin  to  fly.  Longing  to  see  you  again  and 
the  dear  old  stamping-ground  at  Heavy 
Tree.  Love  to  Barker.  Has  the  dear  old 
boy  been  at  any  fresh  crank  lately  ? 

"Yours,  PHIL  DEMOREST." 

The  dictation  and  copy  finished  together. 
Demorest  laid  the  freshly  written  sheet  be 
side  the  letter  Stacy  had  produced.  They 
were  very  much  alike  and  yet  quite  distinct 
from  each  other.  Only  the  signature  seemed 
identical. 

"  That 's  the  invariable  mistake  with  the 
forger,"  said  Demorest ;  "  he  always  forgets 
that  signatures  ought  to  be  identical  with 
the  text  rather  than  with  each  other." 

But  Stacy  did  not  seem  to  hear  this  or 
require  further  proof.  His  face  was  quite 
gray  and  his  lips  compressed  until  lost  in 
his  closely  set  beard  as  he  gazed  fixedly  out 
of  the  window.  For  the  first  time,  really 
concerned  and  touched,  Demorest  laid  his 
hand  gently  on  his  shoulder. 

"  Tell  me,  Jim,  how  much  does  this  mean 
to  you  —  apart  from  me  ?  Don't  think  of 
me." 

"  I  don't  know  yet,"  said  Stacy  slowly. 
"  That 's  the  trouble.  And  I  won't  know 


206  THESE  PARTNERS. 

until  I  know  who  's  at  the  bottom  of  it. 
Does  anybody  know  of  your  affairs  with 
me?" 

"  No  one." 

"  No  confidential  friend,  eh  ?  " 

"  None." 

"  No  one  who  has  access  to  your  secrets  ? 
No  —  no  —  woman  ?  Excuse  me,  Phil,"  he 
said,  as  a  peculiar  look  passed  over  Demo- 
rest's  face,  "  but  this  is  business." 

"  No,"  he  returned,  with  that  gentleness 
that  used  to  frighten  them  in  the  old  days, 
"  it 's  ignorance.  You  fellows  always  say 
4  Cherchez  la  femme '  when  you  can't  say 
anything  else.  Come  now,"  he  went  on 
more  brightly,  "  look  at  the  letter.  Here 's 
a  man,  commercially  educated,  for  he  has 
used  the  usual  business  formulas,  '  on  re 
ceipt  of  this,'  and  '  advices  received,'  which 
I  won't  merely  say  I  don't  use,  but  which 
few  but  commercial  men  use.  Next,  here 's 
a  man  who  uses  slang,  not  only  ineptly, 
but  artificially,  to  give  the  letter  the  easy, 
familiar  turn  it  has  n't  from  beginning  to 
end.  I  need  only  say,  my  dear  Stacy,  that 
I  don't  write  slang  to  you,  but  that  nobody 
who  understands  slang  ever  writes  it  in  that 


THREE  PARTNERS.  207 

way.  And  then  the  knowledge  of  my 
opinion  of  Barker  is  such  as  might  be  gained 
from  the  reading  of  my  letters  by  a  per 
son  who  couldn't  comprehend  my  feelings. 
Now,  let  me  play  inquisitor  for  a  few  mo 
ments.  Has  anybody  access  to  my  letters  to 

<3>  9? 

you  f 

"  No  one.  I  keep  them  locked  up  in  a 
cabinet.  I  only  make  memorandums  of 
your  instructions,  which  I  give  to  my  clerks, 
but  never  your  letters." 

"  But  your  clerks  sometimes  see  you  make 
memorandums  from  them  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  none  of  them  have  the  ability 
to  do  this  sort  of  thing,  nor  the  opportunity 
of  profiting  by  it." 

"  Has  any  woman  —  now  this  is  not  retali 
ation,  my  dear  Jim,  for  I  fancy  I  detect  a 
woman's  cleverness  and  a  woman's  stupidity 
in  this  forgery  —  any  access  to  your  secrets 
or  my  letters  ?  A  woman's  villainy  is  always 
effective  for  the  moment,  but  always  defec 
tive  when  probed." 

The  look  of  scorn  which  passed  over 
Stacy's  face  was  quite  as  distinct  as  Demo- 
rest's  previous  protest,  as  he  said  contempt 
uously,  "  I  'm  not  such  a  fool  as  to  mix 


208  THREE  PAETNEES. 

up  petticoats  with  my  business,  whatever  I 
do." 

"  Well,  one  thing  more.  I  have  told  you 
that  in  my  opinion  the  forger  has  a  commer 
cial  education  or  style,  that  he  does  n't  know 
me  nor  Barker,  and  don't  understand  slang. 
Now,  I  have  to  add  what  must  have  occurred 
to  you,  Jim,  that  the  forger  is  either  a 
coward,  or  his  object  is  not  altogether  mer 
cenary  :  for  the  same  ability  displayed  in  this 
letter  would  on  the  signature  alone  —  had  it 
been  on  a  check  or  draft  —  have  drawn 
from  your  bank  twenty  times  the  amount 
concerned.  Now,  what  is  the  actual  loss 
by  this  forgery?  " 

"  Very  little  ;  for  you  've  got  a  good 
price  for  your  stocks,  considering  the  depre 
ciation  in  realizing  suddenly  on  so  large  an 
amount.  I  told  my  broker  to  sell  slowly 
and  in  small  quantities  to  avoid  a  panic. 
But  the  real  loss  is  the  control  of  the  stock." 

"  But  the  amount  I  had  was  not  enough 
to  affect  that,"  said  Demorest. 

"  No,  but  I  was  carrying  a  large  amount 
myself,  and  together  we  controlled  the  mar 
ket,  and  now  I  have  unloaded,  too." 

"  You  sold  out !  and  with  your  doubts  ?  " 
said  Demorest. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  209 

"  That 's  just  it,"  said  Stacy,  looking 
steadily  at  his  companion's  face,  "  because  I 
had  doubts,  and  it  won't  do  for  me  to  have 
them.  I  ought  either  to  have  disobeyed 
your  letter  and  kept  your  stock  and  my  own, 
or  have  done  just  what  I  did.  I  might 
have  hedged  on  my  own  stock,  but  I  don't 
believe  in  hedging.  There  is  no  middle 
course  to  a  man  in  my  business  if  he  wants 
to  keep  at  the  top.  No  great  success,  no 
great  power,  was  ever  created  by  it." 

Demorest  smiled.  "  Yet  you  accept  the 
alternative  also,  which  is  ruin  ?  " 

"  Precisely,"  said  Stacy.  "  When  you 
returned  the  other  day  you  were  bound  to 
find  me  what  I  was  or  a  beggar.  But  no 
thing  between.  However,"  he  added,  "  this 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  forgery,  or,"  he 
smiled  grimly,  "  everything  to  do  with  it. 
Hush  !  Barker  is  coming." 

There  was  a  quick  step  along  the  corridor 
approaching  the  room.  The  next  moment 
the  door  flew  open  to  the  bounding  step  and 
laughing  face  of  Barker.  Whatever  of 
thoughtfulness  or  despondency  he  had  car 
ried  from  the  room  with  him  was  completely 
gone.  With  his  amazing  buoyancy  and 


210  THREE  PARTNERS. 

power  of  reaction  he  was  there  again  in  his 
usual  frank,  cheerful  simplicity. 

"  I  thought  I  'd  come  in  and  say  good 
night,"  he  began,  with  a  laugh.  "  I  got 
Sta  asleep  after  some  high  jinks  we  had 
together,  and  then  I  reckoned  it  was  n't  the 
square  thing  to  leave  just  you  two  together, 
the  first  night  you  came.  And  I  remem 
bered  I  had  some  business  to  talk  over,  too, 
so  I  thought  I  'd  chip  in  again  and  take  a 
hand.  It 's  only  the  shank  of  the  evening 
yet,"  he  continued  gayly,  "  and  we  ought  to 
sit  up  at  least  long  enough  to  see  the  old 
snow-line  vanish,  as  we  did  in  old  times. 
But  I  say,"  he  added  suddenly,  as  he  glanced 
from  the  one  to  the  other,  "  you  've  been 
having  it  pretty  strong  already.  Why,  you 
both  look  as  you  did  that  night  the  back 
water  of  the  South  Fork  came  into  our 
cabin.  What 's  up  ?  " 

"  Nothing,"  said  Demorest  hastily,  as  he 
caught  a  glance  of  Stacy's  impatient  face. 
"  Only  all  business  is  serious,  Barker  boy, 
though  you  don't  seem  to  feel  it  so." 

"  I  reckon  you  're  right  there,"  said  Bar 
ker,  with  a  chuckle.  "  People  always  laugh, 
of  course,  when  I  talk  business,  so  it  might 


THESE  PAKTNERS.  211 

make  it  a  little  livelier  for  you  and  more  of 
a  change  if  I  chipped  in  now.  Only  I  don't 
know  which  you  '11  do.  Hand  me  a  pipe. 
Well,"  he  continued,  filling  the  pipe  Demo- 
rest  shoved  towards  him,  "  you  see,  I  was  in 
Sacramento  yesterday,  and  I  went  into  Van 
Loo's  branch  office,  as  I  heard  he  was  there, 
and  I  wanted  to  find  out  something  about 
Kitty's  investments,  which  I  don't  think  he  's 
managing  exactly  right.  He  was  n't  there, 
however,  but  as  I  was  waiting  I  heard  his 
clerks  talk  about  a  drop  in  the  Wheat  Trust, 
and  that  there  was  a  lot  of  it  put  upon  the 
market.  They  seemed  to  think  that  some 
thing  had  happened,  and  it  was  going  down 
still  further.  Now  I  knew  it  was  your  pet 
scheme,  and  that  Phil  had  a  lot  of  shares  hi 
it,  too,  so  I  just  slipped  out  and  went  to  a 
broker's  and  told  him  to  buy  all  he  could  of 
it.  And,  by  Jove !  I  was  a  little  taken 
aback  when  I  found  what  I  was  in  for,  for 
everybody  seemed  to  have  unloaded,  and  I 
found  I  had  n't  money  enough  to  pay  mar 
gins,  but  I  knew  that  Demorest  was  here, 
and  I  reckoned  on  his  seeing  me  through." 
He  stopped  and  colored,  but  added  hope 
fully,  "  I  reckon  I  'm  safe,  anyway,  for  just 


212  THREE  PARTNERS. 

as  the  thing  was  over  those  same  clerks  of 
Van  Loo's  came  bounding  into  the  office  to 
buy  up  everything.  And  offered  to  take  it 
off  my  hands  and  pay  the  margins." 

"  And  you  ?  "  said  both  men  eagerly,  and 
in  a  breath. 

Barker  stared  at  them,  and  reddened  and 
paled  by  turns.  "  I  held  on,"  he  stam 
mered.  "  You  see,  boys  " 

Both  men  had  caught  him  by  the  arms. 
"  How  much  have  you  got  ? "  they  said, 
shaking  him  as  if  to  precipitate  the  answer. 

"  It 's  a  heap  !  "  said  Barker.  "  It  's  a 
ghastly  lot  now  I  think  of  it.  I  'm  afraid 
I  'm  in  for  fifty  thousand,  if  a  cent." 

To  his  infinite  astonishment  and  delight 
he  was  alternately  hugged  and  tossed  back 
wards  and  forwards  between  the  two  men 
quite  in  the  fashion  of  the  old  days.  Breath 
less  but  laughing,  he  at  length  gasped  out, 
"  What  does  it  all  mean?  " 

"  Tell  him  everything,  Jim,  —  everything," 
said  Demorest  quickly. 

Stacy  briefly  related  the  story  of  the  for 
gery,  and  then  laid  the  letter  and  its  copy 
before  him.  But  Barker  only  read  the 
forgery. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  213 

"  How  could  ?/ow,  Stacy  —  one  of  the 
three  partners  of  Heavy  Tree  —  be  deceived  ! 
Don't  you  see  it 's  Phil's  handwriting  —  but 
it  is  n't  P/*^/" 

"  But  have  you  any  idea  who  it  is  ?  "  said 
Stacy. 

"Not  me,"  said  Barker,  with  widely 
opened  eyes.  "  You  see  it  must  be  some 
body  whom  we  are  familiar  with.  I  can't 
imagine  such  a  scoundrel." 

"  How  did  you  know  that  Demorest  had 
stock  ?  "  asked  Stacy. 

"  He  told  me  in  one  of  his  letters  and 
advised  me  to  go  into  it.  But  just  then 
Kitty  wanted  money,  I  think,  and  I  did  n't 
go  in." 

"  I  remember  it,"  struck  in  Demorest. 
"  But  surely  it  was  no  secret.  My  name 
would  be  on  the  transfer  books  for  any  one 
to  see." 

"  Not  so,"  said  Stacy  quickly.  "  You 
were  one  of  the  original  shareholders  ;  there 
was  no  transfer,  and  the  books  as  well  as 
the  shares  of  the  company  were  in  my 
hands." 

"  And  your  clerks  ?  "  added  Demorest. 

Stacy   was    silent.     After    a    pause    he 


214  THREE  PARTNERS. 

asked,  "  Did  anybody  ever  see  that  letter, 
Barker  ?  " 

"  No  one  but  myself  and  Kitty." 

"  And  would  she  be  likely  to  talk  of  it  ?  " 
continued  Stacy. 

"  Of  course  not.  Why  should  she  ? 
Whom  could  she  talk  to  ?  "  Yet  he  stopped 
suddenly,  and  then  with  his  characteristic 
reaction  added,  with  a  laugh,  "  Why  no,  cer 
tainly  not." 

"  Of  course,  everybody  knew  that  you 
had  bought  the  shares  at  Sacramento  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Why,  you  know  I  told  you  the 
Van  Loo  clerks  came  to  me  and  wanted  to 
take  it  off  my  hands." 

"  Yes,  I  remember  ;  the  Van  Loo  clerks  ; 
they  knew  it,  of  course,"  said  Stacy  with  a 
grim  smile.  "Well,  boys,"  he  said,  with 
sudden  alacrity,  "  I  'm  going  to  turn  in,  for 
by  sun-up  to-morrow  I  must  be  on  my  way 
to  catch  the  first  train  at  the  Divide  for 
'Frisco.  We  '11  hunt  this  thing  down  to 
gether,  for  I  reckon  we  're  all  concerned  in 
it,"  he  added,  looking  at  the  others,  "  and 
once  more  we  're  partners  as  in  the  old  times. 
Let  us  even  say  that  I  've  given  Barker's 
signal  or  password,"  he  added,  with  a  laugh, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  215 

"  and  we  '11  stick  together.  Barker  boy," 
he  went  on,  grasping  his  younger  partner's 
hand,  "  your  instinct  has  saved  us  this  time  ; 
d — d  if  I  don't  sometimes  think  it  better 
than  any  other  man's  sabe ;  only,"  he 
dropped  his  voice  slightly,  "  I  wish  you  had 
it  in  other  things  than  finance.  Phil,  I  've 
a  word  to  say  to  you  alone  before  I  go.  I 
may  want  you  to  follow  me." 

"  But  what  can  I  do  ? "  said  Barker 
eagerly.  "  You  're  not  going  to  leave  me 
out." 

"  You  've  done  quite  enough  for  us,  old 
man,"  said  Stacy,  laying  his  hand  on  Bar 
ker's  shoulder.  "  And  it  may  be  for  us  to 
do  something  for  you.  Trot  off  to  bed  now, 
like  a  good  boy.  I  '11  keep  you  posted  when 
the  time  comes." 

Shoving  the  protesting  and  leave-taking 
Barker  with  paternal  familiarity  from  the 
room,  he  closed  the  door  and  faced  Demorest. 

"  He  's  the  best  fellow  in  the  world,"  said 
Stacy  quietly,  "  and  has  saved  the  situation  ; 
but  we  must  n't  trust  too  much  to  him  for 
the  present  —  not  even  seem  to." 

"  Nonsense,  man !  "  said  Demorest  impa 
tiently.  "You're  letting  your  prejudices 


216  THREE  PARTNERS. 

go  too  far.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you 
suspect  his  wife." 

"  D — n  his  wife  !  "  said  Stacy  almost  sav 
agely.  "  Leave  her  out  of  this.  It 's  Van 
Loo  that  I  suspect.  It  was  Van  Loo  who 
I  knew  was  behind  it,  who  expected  to  profit 
by  it,  and  now  we  have  lost  him." 

"  But  how  ?  "  said  Demorest,  astonished. 

"How?"  repeated  Stacy  impatiently. 
"  You  know  what  Barker  said  ?  Van  Loo, 
either  through  stupidity,  fright,  or  the  wish 
to  get  the  lowest  prices,  was  too  late  to  buy 
up  the  market.  If  he  had,  we  might  have 
openly  declared  the  forgery,  and  if  it  was 
known  that  he  or  his  friends  had  profited  by 
it,  even  if  we  could  not  have  proven  his 
actual  complicity,  we  could  at  least  have 
made  it  too  hot  for  him  in  California.  But," 
said  Stacy,  looking  intently  at  his  friend, 
"  do  you  know  how  the  case  stands  now  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Demorest,  a  little  uneasily 
under  his  friend's  keen  eyes,  "  we  've  lost 
that  chance,  but  we  've  kept  control  of  the 
stock." 

"You  think  so?  Well,  let  me  tell  you 
how  the  case  stands  and  the  price  we  pay 
for  it,"  said  Stacy  deliberately,  as  he  folded 


THEEE  PAETNEES.  217 

his  arms  and  gazed  at  Demorest.  "You 
and  I,  well  known  as  old  friends  and  former 
partners,  for  no  apparent  reason  —  for  we 
cannot  prove  the  forgery  now  —  have  thrown 
upon  the  market  all  our  stock,  with  the 
usual  effect  of  depreciating  it.  Another  old 
friend  and  former  partner  has  bought  it  in 
and  sent  up  the  price.  A  common  trick,  a 
vulgar  trick,  but  not  a  trick  worthy  of  James 
Stacy  or  Stacy's  Bank !  " 

"  But  why  not  simply  declare  the  forgery 
without  making  any  specific  charge  against 
Van  Loo?" 

"Do  you  imagine,  Phil,  that  any  man 
would  believe  it,  and  the  story  of  a  providen 
tially  appointed  friend  like  Barker  who  saved 
us  from  loss?  Why,  all  California,  from 
Cape  Mendocino  to  Los  Angeles,  would  roar 
with  laughter  over  it !  No !  We  must  swal 
low  it  and  the  reputation  of  'jockeying' 
with  the  Wheat  Trust,  too.  That  Trust 's  as 
good  as  done  for,  for  the  present !  Now  you 
know  why  I  did  n't  want  poor  Barker  to 
know  it,  nor  have  much  to  do  with  our 
search  for  the  forger." 

"  It  would  break  the  dear  fellow's  heart  if 
he  knew  it,"  said  Demorest. 


218  THESE  PARTNERS. 

"  Well,  it 's  to  save  him  from  having  his 
heart  broken  further  that  I  intend  to  find 
out  this  forger,"  said  Stacy  grimly.  "  Good 
night,  Phil !  I  '11  telegraph  to  you  when  I 
want  you,  and  then  come  !  " 

With  another  grip  of  the  hand  he  left 
Demorest  to  his  thoughts.  In  the  first  ex 
citement  of  meeting  his  old  partners,  and  in 
the  later  discovery  of  the  forgery,  Demorest 
had  been  diverted  from  his  old  sorrow,  and 
for  the  time  had  forgotten  it  in  sympathetic 
interest  with  the  present.  But,  to  his  hor 
ror,  when  alone  again,  he  found  that  interest 
growing  as  remote  and  vapid  as  the  stories 
they  had  laughed  over  at  the  table,  and  even 
the  excitement  of  the  forged  letter  and  its 
consequences  began  to  be  as  unreal,  as  im 
potent,  as  shadowy,  as  the  memory  of  the 
attempted  robbery  hi  the  old  cabin  on  that 
very  spot.  He  was  ashamed  of  that  selfish 
ness  which  still  made  him  cling  to  this  past, 
so  much  his  own,  that  he  knew  it  debarred 
him  from  the  human  sympathy  of  his  com 
rades.  And  even  Barker,  in  whose  court 
ship  and  marriage  he  had  tried  to  resuscitate 
his  youthful  emotions  and  condone  his  selfish 
errors  —  even  the  suggestion  of  his  unhappi- 


THESE  PARTNERS.  219 

ness  only  touched  him  vaguely.  He  would 
no  longer  be  a  slave  to  the  Past,  or  the 
memory  that  had  deluded  him  a  few  hours 
ago.  He  walked  to  the  window  ;  alas,  there 
was  the  same  prospect  that  had  looked  upon 
his  dreams,  had  lent  itself  to  his  old  visions. 
There  was  the  eternal  outline  of  the  hills ; 
there  rose  the  steadfast  pines  ;  there  was  no 
change  in  them.  It  was  this  surrounding 
constancy  of  nature  that  had  affected  him. 
He  turned  away  and  entered  the  bedroom. 
Here  he  suddenly  remembered  that  the 
mother  of  this  vague  enemy,  Van  Loo,  —  for 
his  feeling  towards  him  was  still  vague,  as 
few  men  really  hate  the  personality  they 
don't  know,  —  had  only  momentarily  vacated 
it,  and  to  his  distaste  of  his  own  intrusion 
was  now  added  the  profound  irony  of  his 
sleeping  in  the  same  bed  lately  occupied  by 
the  mother  of  the  man  who  was  suspected  of 
having  forged  his  name.  He  smiled  faintly 
and  looked  around  the  apartment.  It  was 
handsomely  furnished,  and  although  it  still 
had  much  of  the  characterlessness  of  the 
hotel  room,  it  was  distinctly  flavored  by  its 
last  occupant,  and  still  brightened  by  that 
mysterious  instinct  of  the  sex  which  is  inevi- 


220  THESE  PARTNERS. 

table.  Where  a  man  would  have  simply 
left  his  forgotten  slippers  or  collars  there 
was  a  glass  of  still  unf aded  flowers ;  the  cold 
marble  top  of  the  dressing-table  was  littered 
with  a  few  linen  and  silk  toilet  covers ;  and 
on  the  mantel-shelf  was  a  sheaf  of  photo 
graphs.  He  walked  towards  them  mechan 
ically,  glanced  at  them  abstractedly,  and  then 
stopped  suddenly  with  a  beating  heart. 
Before  him  was  the  picture  of  his  past,  the 
photograph  of  the  one  woman  who  had  filled 
his  life ! 

He  cast  a  hurried  glance  around  the  room 
as  if  he  half  expected  to  see  the  original 
start  up  before  him,  and  then  eagerly  seized 
it  and  hurried  with  it  to  the  light.  Yes! 
yes  !  It  was  she,  —  she  as  she  had  lived  in 
his  actual  memory ;  she  as  she  had  lived  in 
his  dream.  He  saw  her  sweet  eyes,  but  the 
frightened,  innocent  trouble  had  passed  from 
them ;  there  was  the  sensitive  elegance  of 
her  graceful  figure  in  evening  dress;  but  the 
figure  was  fuller  and  maturer.  Could  he  be 
mistaken  by  some  wonderful  resemblance 
acting  upon  his  too  willing  brain  ?  He 
turned  the  photograph  over.  No ;  there  on 
the  other  side,  written  in  her  own  childlike 


THESE  PARTNERS.  221 

hand,  endeared  and  familiar  to  his  recollec 
tion,  was  her  own  name,  and  the  date !  It 
was  surely  she  ! 

How  did  it  come  there?  Did  the  Van 
Loos  know  her  ?  It  was  taken  in  Venice ; 
there  was  the  address  of  the  photographers. 
The  Van  Loos  were  foreigners,  he  remem 
bered  ;  they  had  traveled ;  perhaps  had  met 
her  there  in  1858  :  that  was  the  date  in  her 
handwriting  ;  that  was  the  date  on  the  pho 
tographer's  address  —  1858.  Suddenly  he 
laid  the  photograph  down,  took  with  trem 
bling  fingers  a  letter-case  from  his  pocket, 
opened  it,  and  laid  his  last  letter  to  her,  in 
dorsed  with  the  cruel  announcement  of  her 
death,  before  him  on  the  table.  He  passed 
his  hand  across  his  forehead  and  opened  the 
letter.  It  was  dated  1856  !  The  photograph 
must  have  been  taken  two  years  after  her 
alleged  death ! 

He  examined  it  again  eagerly,  fixedly, 
tremblingly.  A  wild  impulse  to  summon 
Barker  or  Stacy  on  the  spot  was  restrained 
with  difficulty  and  only  when  he  remembered 
that  they  could  not  help  him.  Then  he  be 
gan  to  oscillate  between  a  joy  and  a  new  fear, 
which  now,  for  the  first  time,  began  to  dawn 


222  THREE  PARTNERS. 

upon  him.  If  the  news  of  her  death  had 
been  a  fiendish  trick  of  her  relations,  why 
had  she  never  sought  him  ?  It  was  not  ill 
health,  restraint,  nor  fear ;  there  was  nothing 
but  happiness  and  the  strength  of  youth 
and  beauty  in  that  face  and  figure.  He  had 
not  disappeared  from  the  world ;  he  was 
known  of  men ;  more,  his  memorable  good 
fortune  must  have  reached  her  ears.  Had 
he  wasted  all  these  miserable  years  to  find 
himself  abandoned,  forgotten,  perhaps  even 
a  dupe?  For  the  first  time  the  sting  of 
jealousy  entered  his  soul.  Perhaps,  uncon 
sciously  to  himself,  his  strange  and  varying 
feelings  that  afternoon  had  been  the  gather 
ing  climax  of  his  mental  condition ;  at  all 
events,  in  the  sudden  revulsion  there  was  a 
shaking  off  of  his  apathetic  thought ;  there 
was  activity,  even  if  it  was  the  activity  of 
pain.  Here  was  a  mystery  to  be  solved,  a 
secret  to  be  discovered,  a  past  wrong  to  be 
exposed,  an  enemy  or,  perhaps,  even  a  faith 
less  love  to  be  punished.  Perhaps  he  had 
even  saved  his  reason  at  the  expense  of  his 
love.  He  quickly  replaced  the  photograph 
on  the  mantel-shelf,  returned  the  letter  care 
fully  to  his  pocket-book,  —  no  longer  a  sou- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  223 

venir  of  the  past,  but  a  proof  of  treachery, 
—  and  began  to  mechanically  undress  him 
self.  He  was  quite  calm  now,  and  went  to 
bed  with  a  strange  sense  of  relief,  and  slept 
as  he  had  not  slept  since  he  was  a  boy. 

The  whole  hotel  had  sunk  to  rest  by  this 
time,  and  then  began  the  usual  slow,  nightly 
invasion  and  investment  of  it  by  nature. 
For  all  its  broad  verandas  and  glaring  ter 
races,  its  long  ranges  of  windows  and  glit 
tering  crest  of  cupola  and  tower,  it  gradually 
succumbed  to  the  more  potent  influences 
around  it,  and  became  their  sport  and  play 
ground.  The  mountain  breezes  from  the 
distant  summit  swept  down  upon  its  flimsy 
structure,  shook  the  great  glass  windows  as 
with  a  strong  hand,  and  sent  the  balm  of 
bay  and  spruce  through  every  chink  and 
cranny.  In  the  great  hall  and  corridors  the 
carpets  billowed  with  the  intruding  blast 
along  the  floors ;  there  was  the  murmur  of 
the  pines  in  the  passages,  and  the  damp 
odor  of  leaves  in  the  dining-room.  There 
was  the  cry  of  night  birds  in  the  creaking 
cupola,  and  the  swift  rush  of  dark  wings 
past  bedroom  windows.  Lissome  shapes 
crept  along  the  terraces  between  the  stolid 


224  THESE  PARTNERS. 

wooden  statues,  or,  bolder,  scampered  the 
whole  length  of  the  great  veranda.  In  the 
lulling  of  the  wind  the  breath  of  the  woods 
was  everywhere ;  even  the  aroma  of  swelling 
sap  —  as  if  the  ghastly  stumps  on  the  defor 
ested  slope  behind  the  hotel  were  bleeding 
afresh  in  the  dewless  night  —  stung  the  eyes 
and  nostrils  of  the  sleepers. 

It  was,  perhaps,  from  such  cause  as  this 
that  Barker  was  awakened  suddenly  by  the 
voice  of  the  boy  from  the  crib  beside  him, 
crying,  "  Mamma  !  mamma  !  "  Taking  the 
child  in  his  arms,  he  comforted  him,  saying 
she  would  come  that  morning,  and  showed 
him  the  faint  dawn  already  veiling  with 
color  the  ghostly  pallor  of  the  Sierras.  As 
they  looked  at  it  a  great  star  shot  forth  from 
its  brethren  and  fell.  It  did  not  fall  per 
pendicularly,  but  seemed  for  some  seconds 
to  slip  along  the  slopes  of  Black  Spur, 
gleaming  through  the  trees  like  a  chariot  of 
fire.  It  pleased  the  child  to  say  that  it  was 
the  light  of  mamma's  buggy  that  was  fetch 
ing  her  home,  and  it  pleased  the  father 
to  encourage  the  boy's  fancy.  And  talking 
thus  in  confidential  whispers  they  fell  asleep 
once  more,  the  father  —  himself  a  child  in 


THESE  PAETNEES.  225 

so  many  things  —  holding  the  smaller  and 
frailer  hand  in  his. 

They  did  not  know  that  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Divide  the  wife  and  mother, 
scared,  doubting,  and  desperate,  by  the  side 
of  her  scared,  doubting,  and  desperate  accom 
plice,  was  flying  down  the  slope  on  her 
night-long  road  to  ruin.  Still  less  did  they 
know  that,  with  the  early  singing  birds,  a 
careless  horseman,  emerging  from  the  trail 
as  the  dust-stained  buggy  dashed  past  him, 
glanced  at  it  with  a  puzzled  air,  uttered  a 
quiet  whistle  of  surprise,  and  then,  wheeling 
his  horse,  gayly  cantered  after  it. 


CHAPTER  V. 

IN  the  exercise  of  his  arduous  profession, 
Jack  Hamlin  had  sat  up  all  night  in  the 
magnolia  saloon  of  the  Divide,  and  as  it 
was  rather  early  to  go  to  bed,  he  had,  after 
his  usual  habit,  shaken  off  the  sedentary 
attitude  and  prepared  himself  for  sleep  by 
a  fierce  preliminary  gallop  in  the  woods. 
Besides,  he  had  been  a  large  winner,  and  on 
those  occasions  he  generally  isolated  himself 
from  his  companions  to  avoid  foolish  alter 
cations  with  inexperienced  players.  Even 
in  fighting  Jack  was  fastidious,  and  did  not 
like  to  have  his  stomach  for  a  real  difficulty 
distended  and  vitiated  by  small  preliminary 
indulgences. 

He  was  just  emerging  from  the  wood  into 
the  highroad  when  a  buggy  dashed  past 
him,  containing  a  man  and  a  woman.  The 
woman  wore  a  thick  veil ;  the  man  was 
almost  undistinguishable  from  dust.  The 
glimpse  was  momentary,  but  dislike  has  a 


THREE  PARTNERS.  227 

keen  eye,  and  in  that  glimpse  Mr.  Hamlin 
recognized  Van  Loo.  The  situation  was 
equally  clear.  The  bent  heads  and  averted 
faces,  the  dust  collected  in  the  heedlessness 
of  haste,  the  early  hour,  —  indicating  a 
night-long  flight,  —  all  made  it  plain  to  him 
that  Van  Loo  was  running  away  with  some 
woman.  Mr.  Hamlin  had  no  moral  scruples, 
but  he  had  the  ethics  of  a  sportsman,  which 
he  knew  Mr.  Van  Loo  was  not.  Whether 
the  woman  was  an  innocent  schoolgirl  or  an 
actress,  he  was  satisfied  that  Van  Loo  was 
doing  a  mean  thing  meanly.  Mr.  Hamlin 
also  had  a  taste  for  mischief,  and  whether 
the  woman  was  or  was  not  fair  game,  he 
knew  that  for  his  purposes  Van  Loo  was. 
With  the  greatest  cheerfulness  in  the  world 
he  wheeled  his  horse  and  cantered  after 
them. 

They  were  evidently  making  for  the 
Divide  and  a  fresh  horse,  or  to  take  the 
coach  due  an  hour  later.  It  was  Mr.  Ham- 
lin's  present  object  to  circumvent  this,  and, 
therefore,  it  was  quite  in  his  way  to  return. 
Incidentally,  however,  the  superior  speed  of 
his  horse  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  fre 
quently  lunging  towards  them  at  a  furious 


228  THESE  PARTNERS. 

pace,  which  had  the  effect  of  frantically  in 
creasing  their  own  speed,  when  he  would 
pull  up  with  a  silent  laugh  before  he  was 
fairly  discovered,  and  allow  the  sound  of  his 
rapid  horse's  hoofs  to  die  out.  In  this  way 
he  amused  himself  until  the  straggling  town 
of  the  Divide  came  in  sight,  when,  putting 
his  spurs  to  his  horse  again,  he  managed, 
under  pretense  of  the  animal  becoming  un 
governable,  to  twice  "  cross  the  bows  "  of  the 
fugitives,  compelling  them  to  slacken  speed. 
At  the  second  of  these  passages  Van  Loo 
apparently  lost  prudence,  and  slashing  out 
with  his  whip,  the  lash  caught  slightly  on 
the  counter  of  Harnlin's  horse.  Mr.  Ham- 
lin  instantly  acknowledged  it  by  lifting  his 
hat  gravely,  and  speeded  on  to  the  hotel, 
arriving  at  the  steps  and  throwing  himself 
from  the  saddle  exactly  as  the  buggy  drove 
up.  With  characteristic  audacity,  he  ac 
tually  assisted  the  frightened  and  eager  wo 
man  to  alight  and  run  into  the  hotel.  But 
in  this  action  her  veil  was  accidentally  lifted. 
Mr.  Hamlin  instantly  recognized  the  pretty 
woman  who  had  been  pointed  out  to  him  in 
San  Francisco  as  Mrs.  Barker,  the  wife  of 
one  of  the  partners  whose  fortunes  had  in- 


THREE  PAETNEES.  229 

terested  him  five  years  ago.  It  struck  him 
that  this  was  an  additional  reason  for  his 
interference  on  Barker's  account,  although 
personally  he  could  not  conceive  why  a  man 
should  ever  try  to  prevent  a  woman  from 
running  away  from  him.  But  then  Mr. 
Hamlin's  personal  experiences  had  been 
quite  the  other  way. 

It  was  enough,  however,  to  cause  him  to 
lay  his  hand  lightly  on  Van  Loo's  arm  as 
the  latter,  leaping  down,  was  about  to  follow 
Mrs.  Barker  into  the  hotel.  "  You  '11  have 
time  enough  now,"  said  Hamlin. 

"  Time  for  what  ? "  said  Van  Loo  sav 
agely. 

"  Time  to  apologize  for  having  cut  my 
horse  with  your  whip,"  said  Jack  sweetly. 
"  We  don't  want  to  quarrel  before  a  wo 
man." 

"  I  've  no  time  for  fooling !  "  said  Van 
Loo,  endeavoring  to  pass. 

But  Jack's  hand  had  slipped  to  Van 
Loo's  wrist,  although  he  still  smiled  cheer 
fully.  "  Ah  !  Then  you  did  mean  it,  and 
you  propose  to  give  me  satisfaction  ?  " 

Van  Loo  paled  slightly ;  he  knew  Jack's 
reputation  as  a  duelist.  But  he  was  des- 


230  THREE  PARTNERS. 

perate.  "  You  see  my  position,"  he  said 
hurriedly.  "  I  'm  in  a  hurry ;  I  have  a 
lady  with  me.  No  man  of  honor  " 

"  You  do  me  wrong,"  interrupted  Jack, 
with  a  pained  expression,  — "  you  do,  in 
deed.  You  are  in  a  hurry  —  well,  I  have 
plenty  of  time.  If  you  cannot  attend  to 
me  now,  why  I  will  be  glad  to  accompany 
you  and  the  lady  to  the  next  station.  Of 
course,"  he  added,  with  a  smile,  "  at  a  proper 
distance,  and  without  interfering  with  the 
lady,  whom  I  am  pleased  to  recognize  as  the 
wife  of  an  old  friend.  It  would  be  more 
sociable,  perhaps,  if  we  had  some  general 
conversation  on  the  road ;  it  would  prevent 
her  being  alarmed.  I  might  even  be  of 
some  use  to  you.  If  we  are  overtaken  by 
her  husband  on  the  road,  for  instance,  I 
should  certainly  claim  the  right  to  have  the 
rfirst  shot  at  you.  Boy !  "  he  called  to  the 
hostler,  "just  sponge  out  Pancho's  mouth, 
will  you,  to  be  ready  when  the  buggy 
goes?"  And,  loosening  his  grip  of  Van 
Loo's  wrist,  he  turned  away  as  the  other 
quickly  entered  the  hotel. 

But  Mr.  Van  Loo  did  not  immediately 
seek  Mrs.  Barker.  He  had  already  some 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  231 

experience  of  that  lady's  nerves  and  irasci 
bility  on  the  drive,  and  had  begun  to  see  his 
error  in  taking  so  dangerous  an  impediment 
to  his  flight  from  the  country.  And  another 
idea  had  come  to  him.  He  had  already 
effected  his  purpose  of  compromising  her 
with  him  in  that  flight,  but  it  was  still 
known  only  to  few.  If  he  left  her  behind 
for  the  foolish,  doting  husband,  would  not 
that  devoted  man  take  her  back  to  avoid  a 
scandal,  and  even  forbear  to  pursue  him  for 
his  financial  irregularities?  What  were 
twenty  thousand  dollars  of  Mrs.  Barker's 
money  to  the  scandal  of  Mrs.  Barker's 
elopement?  Again,  the  failure  to  realize 
the  forgery  had  left  him  safe,  and  Barker 
was  sufficiently  potent  with  the  bank  and 
Demorest  to  hush  up  that  also.  Hamlin 
was  now  the  only  obstacle  to  his  flight ;  but 
even  he  would  scarcely  pursue  him  if  Mrs. 
Barker  were  left  behind.  And  it  would  be 
easier  to  elude  him  if  he  did. 

In  his  preoccupation  Van  Loo  did  not  see 
that  he  had  entered  the  bar-room,  but,  find 
ing  himself  there,  he  moved  towards  the 
bar;  a  glass  of  spirits  would  revive  him. 
As  he  drank  it  he  saw  that  the  room  was 


232  THREE  PARTNERS. 

full  of  rough  men,  apparently  miners  or 
packers  —  some  of  them  Mexican,  with  here 
and  there  a  Kanaka  or  Australian.  Two 
men  more  ostentatiously  clad,  though  appar 
ently  on  equal  terms  with  the  others,  were 
standing  in  the  corner  with  their  backs 
towards  him.  From  the  general  silence  as 
he  entered  he  imagined  that  he  had  been  the 
subject  of  conversation,  and  that  his  alter 
cation  with  Hamlin  had  been  overheard. 
Suddenly  one  of  the  two  men  turned  and 
approached  him.  To  his  consternation  he 
recognized  Steptoe,  —  Steptoe,  whom  he  had 
not  seen  for  five  years  until  last  night,  when 
he  had  avoided  him  in  the  courtyard  of  the 
Boomville  Hotel.  His  first  instinct  was  to 
retreat,  but  it  was  too  late.  And  the  spirits 
had  warmed  him  into  temporary  reckless 
ness. 

"  You  ain't  goin'  to  be  backed  down  by  a 
short-card  gambler,  are  yer  ?  "  said  Steptoe, 
with  coarse  familiarity. 

"  I  have  a  lady  with  me,  and  am  pressed 
for  time,"  said  Van  Loo  quickly.  "  He 
knows  it,  otherwise  he  would  not  have 
dared  "  — 

"  Well,  look  here,"  said  Steptoe  roughly. 


THESE  PAETNERS.  233 

"  I  ain't  particularly  sweet  on  you,  as  you 
know  ;  but  I  and  these  gentlemen,"  he  added, 
glancing  around  the  room,  "  ain't  particu 
larly  sweet  on  Mr.  Jack  Hamlin  neither, 
and  we  kalkilate  to  stand  by  you  if  you  say 
so.  Now,  I  reckon  you  want  to  get  away 
with  the  woman,  and  the  quicker  the  better, 
as  you  're  afraid  there  '11  be  somebody  after 
you  afore  long.  That 's  the  way  it  pans  out, 
don't  it  ?  Well,  when  you  're  ready  to  go, 
and  you  just  tip  us  the  wink,  we  '11  get  in  a 
circle  round  Jack  and  cover  him,  and  if  he 
starts  after  you  we  '11  send  him  on  a  little 
longer  journey  !  —  eh,  boys  ?  " 

The  men  muttered  their  approval,  and  one 
or  two  drew  their  revolvers  from  their  belts. 
Van  Loo's  heart,  which  had  leaped  at  first 
at  this  proposal  of  help,  sank  at  this  failure 
of  his  little  plan  of  abandoning  Mrs.  Barker. 
He  hesitated,  and  then  stammered,  "  Thank 
you !  Haste  is  everything  with  us  now ; 
but  I  should  n't  mind  leaving  the  lady  among 
chivalrous  gentlemen  like  yourselves  for  a 
few  hours  only,  until  I  could  communicate 
with  my  friends  and  return  to  properly  chas 
tise  this  scoundrel." 

Steptoe  drew  in  his  breath  with  a  slight 


234  THESE  PAKTNEES. 

whistle,  and  gazed  at  Van  Loo.  He  instantly 
understood  him.  But  the  plea  did  not  suit 
Steptoe,  who,  for  purposes  of  his  own,  wished 
to  put  Mrs.  Barker  beyond  her  husband's 
possible  reach.  He  smiled  grimly.  "  I 
think  you  'd  better  take  the  woman  with 
you,"  he  said.  "  I  don't  think,"  he  added 
in  a  lower  voice,  "  that  the  boys  would  like 
your  leaving  her.  They  're  very  high-toned, 
they  are  !  "  he  concluded  ironically. 

"  Then,"  said  Van  Loo,  with  another  des 
perate  idea,  "  could  you  not  let  us  have 
saddle-horses  instead  of  the  buggy?  We 
could  travel  faster,  and  in  the  event  of  pur 
suit  and  anything  happening  to  me,"  he 
added  loftily,  "  she  at  least  could  escape  her 
pursuer's  vengeance." 

This  suited  Steptoe  equally  well,  as  long 
as  the  guilty  couple  fled  together,  and  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses.  But  he  was  not 
deceived  by  Van  Loo's  heroic  suggestion  of 
self-sacrifice.  "  Quite  right,"  he  said  sarcas 
tically,  "  it  shall  be  done,  and  I  Ve  no  doubt 
one  of  you  will  escape.  I  '11  send  the  horses 
round  to  the  back  door  and  keep  the  buggy 
in  front.  That  will  keep  Jack  there,  too,  — 
with  the  boys  handy." 


THESE  PAETNEES.  235 

But  Mr.  Hamlin  had  quite  as  accurate  an 
idea  of  Mr.  Van  Loo's  methods  and  of  his 
own  standing  with  Steptoe's  gang  of  roughs 
as  Mr.  Steptoe  himself.  More  than  that, 
he  also  had  a  hold  on  a  smaller  but  more 
devoted  and  loyal  following  than  Steptoe's. 
The  employees  and  hostlers  of  the  hotel 
worshiped  him.  A  single  word  of  inquiry 
revealed  to  him  the  fact  that  the  buggy  was 
not  going  on,  but  that  Mr.  Van  Loo  and 
Mrs.  Barker  ivere  —  on  two  horses,  a  tem 
porary  side-saddle  having  been  constructed 
out  of  a  mule's  pack-tree.  At  which  Mr. 
Hamlin,  with  his  usual  audacity,  walked  into 
the  bar-room,  and  going  to  the  bar  leaned 
carelessly  against  it.  Then  turning  to  the 
lowering  faces  around  him,  he  said,  with  a 
flash  of  his  white  teeth,  "  Well,  boys,  I  'm 
calculating  to  leave  the  Divide  in  a  few 
minutes  to  follow  some  friends  in  the  buggy, 
and  it  seems  to  me  only  the  square  thing 
to  stand  the  liquor  for  the  crowd,  without 
prejudice  to  any  feeling  or  roughness  there 
may  be  against  me.  Everybody  who  knows 
me  knows  that  I  'm  generally  there  when  the 
band  plays,  and  I  'm  pretty  sure  to  turn  up 
for  that  sort  of  thing.  So  you  '11  just  con- 


236  THESE  PARTNERS. 

sider  that  I  've  had  a  good  game  on  the 
Divide,  and  I  'm  reckoning  it 's  only  fair  to 
leave  a  little  of  it  behind  me  here,  to 
*  sweeten  the  pot '  until  I  call  again.  I 
only  ask  you,  gentlemen,  to  drink  success  to 
my  friends  in  the  buggy  as  early  and  as 
often  as  you  can."  He  flung  two  gold  pieces 
on  the  counter  and  paused,  smiling. 

He  was  right  in  his  conjecture.  Even 
the  men  who  would  have  willingly  "  held 
him  up  "  a  moment  after,  at  the  bidding  of 
Steptoe,  saw  no  reason  for  declining  a  free 
drink  "  without  prejudice."  And  it  was  a 
part  of  the  irony  of  the  situation  that  Step- 
toe  and  Van  Loo  were  also  obliged  to  parti 
cipate  to  keep  in  with  their  partisans.  It 
was,  however,  an  opportune  diversion  to  Van 
Loo,  who  managed  to  get  nearer  the  door 
leading  to  the  back  entrance  of  the  hotel, 
and  to  Mr.  Jack  Hamlin,  who  was  watching 
him,  as  the  men  closed  Tip  to  the  bar. 

The  toast  was  drunk  with  acclamation, 
followed  by  another  and  yet  another.  Step- 
toe  and  Van  Loo,  who  had  kept  their  heads 
cool,  were  both  wondering  if  Hamlin's  inten 
tion  were  to  intoxicate  and  incapacitate  the 
crowd  at  the  crucial  moment,  and  Steptoe 


THREE  PAETNEES.  237 

smiled  grimly  over  his  superior  knowledge  of 
their  alcoholic  capacity.  But  suddenly  there 
was  the  greater  diversion  of  a  shout  from 
the  road,  the  on-coming  of  a  cloud  of  red 
dust,  and  the  halt  of  another  vehicle  before 
the  door.  This  time  it  was  no  jaded  single 
horse  and  dust-stained  buggy,  but  a  double 
team  of  four  spirited  trotters,  whose  coats 
were  scarcely  turned  with  foam,  before  a 
light  station  wagon  containing  a  single  man. 
But  that  man  was  instantly  recognized  by 
every  one  of  the  outside  loungers  and  stable- 
boys  as  well  as  the  staring  crowd  within  the 
saloon.  It  was  James  Stacy,  the  millionaire 
and  banker.  No  one  but  himself  knew  that 
he  had  covered  half  the  distance  of  a  night 
long  ride  from  Boomville  in  two  hours. 
But  before  they  could  voice  their  astonish 
ment  Stacy  had  thrown  a  letter  to  the  obse 
quious  landlord,  and  then  gathering  up  the 
reins  had  sped  away  to  the  railroad  station 
half  a  mile  distant. 

"  Looks  as  if  the  Boss  of  Creation  was  in 
a  hurry,"  said  one  of  the  eager  gazers  in  the 
doorway.  "  Somebody  goin'  to  get  smashed, 
sure." 

"More   like  as  if   he  was  just   humpin' 


238  THREE  PARTNERS. 

himself  to  keep  from  getting  smashed,"  said 
Steptoe.  "The  bank  hasn't  got  over  the 
effect  of  their  smart  deal  in  the  Wheat 
Trust.  Everything  they  had  in  their  hands 
tumbled  yesterday  in  Sacramento.  Men  like 
me  and  you  ain't  goin'  to  trust  their  money 
to  be  '  jockeyed '  with  in  that  style.  No 
body  but  a  man  with  a  swelled  head  like 
Stacy  would  have  even  dared  to  try  it  on. 
And  now,  by  G — d !  he  's  got  to  pay  for 
it." 

The  harsh,  exultant  tone  of  the  speaker 
showed  that  he  had  quite  forgotten  Van 
Loo  and  Hamlin  in  his  superior  hatred  of 
the  millionaire,  and  both  men  noticed  it. 
Van  Loo  edged  still  nearer  to  the  door,  as 
Steptoe  continued,  "  Ever  since  he  made 
that  big  strike  on  Heavy  Tree  five  years 
ago,  the  country  has  n't  been  big  enough  to 
hold  him.  But  mark  my  words,  gentlemen, 
the  time  ain't  far  off  when  he  '11  find  a  two- 
foot  ditch  again  and  a  pick  and  grub  wages 
room  enough  and  to  spare  for  him  and  his 
kind  of  cattle." 

"You  're  not  drinking,"  said  Jack  Hamlin 
cheerfully. 

Steptoe  turned  towards  the  bar,  and  then 


THREE  PARTNERS.  239 

started.  "  Where  's  Van  Loo  ?  "  he  de 
manded  of  Jack  sharply. 

Jack  jerked  his  thumb  over  his  shoulder. 
"  Gone  to  hurry  up  his  girl,  I  reckon.  I 
calculate  he  ain't  got  much  time  to  fool 
away  here." 

Steptoe  glanced  suspiciously  at  Jack.  But 
at  the  same  moment  they  were  all  startled 
—  even  Jack  himself  —  at  the  apparition  of 
Mrs.  Barker  passing  hurriedly  along  the 
veranda  before  the  windows  in  the  direction 
of  the  still  waiting  buggy.  "  D — n  it ! "  said 
Steptoe  in  a  fierce  whisper  to  the  man  next 
him.  "Tell  her  not  there  —  at  the  back 
door  !  "  But  before  the  messenger  reached 
the  door  there  was  a  sudden  rattle  of  wheels, 
and  with  one  accord  all  except  Hamlin 
rushed  to  the  veranda,  only  to  see  Mrs. 
Barker  driving  rapidly  away  alone.  Steptoe 
turned  back  into  the  room,  but  Jack  also 
had  disappeared. 

For  in  the  confusion  created  at  the  sight 
of  Mrs.  Barker,  he  had  slipped  to  the  back 
door  and  found,  as  he  suspected,  only  one 
horse,  and  that  with  a  side-saddle  on.  His 
intuitions  were  right.  Van  Loo,  when  he 
disappeared  from  the  saloon,  had  instantly 


240  THREE  PARTNERS. 

fled,  taking  the  other  horse  and  abandoning 
the  woman  to  her  fate.  Jack  as  instantly 
leaped  upon  the  remaining  saddle  and  dashed 
after  him.  Presently  he  caught  a  glimpse 
of  the  fugitive  in  the  distance,  heard  the 
half-angry,  half-ironical  shouts  of  the  crowd 
at  the  back  door,  and  as  he  reached  the  hill 
top  saw,  with  a  mingling  of  satisfaction  and 
perplexity,  Mrs.  Barker  on  the  other  road, 
still  driving  frantically  in  the  direction  of 
the  railroad  station.  At  which  Mr.  Hamlin 
halted,  threw  away  his  encumbering  saddle, 
and,  good  rider  that  he  was,  remounted  the 
horse,  barebacked  but  for  his  blanket-pad, 
and  thrusting  his  knees  in  the  loose  girths, 
again  dashed  forwards,  —  with  such  good 
results  that,  as  Van  Loo  galloped  up  to  the 
stagecoach  office,  at  the  next  station,  and 
was  about  to  enter  the  waiting  coach  for 
Marysville,  the  soft  hand  of  Mr.  Hamlin 
was  laid  on  his  shoulder. 

"  I  told  you,"  said  Jack  blandly,  "  that  I 
had  plenty  of  time.  I  would  have  been  here 
before  and  even  overtaken  you,  only  you 
had  the  better  horse  and  the  only  saddle." 

Van  Loo  recoiled.  But  he  was  now  des 
perate  and  reckless.  Beckoning  Jack  out 


THREE  PAETNEES.  241 

of  earshot  of  the  other  passengers,  he  said 
with  tightened  lips,  "  Why  do  you  follow  me  ? 
What  is  your  purpose  in  coming  here  ?  " 

"  I  thought,"  said  Hamlin  dryly,  "  that  I 
was  to  have  the  pleasure  of  getting  satisfac 
tion  from  you  for  the  insult  you  gave  me." 

"  Well,  and  if  I  apologize  for  it,  what 
then?"  he  said  quickly. 

Hamlin  looked  at  him  quietly.  "  Well,  I 
think  I  also  said  something  about  the  lady 
being  the  wife  of  a  friend  of  mine." 

"  And  I  have  left  her  behind.  Her  hus 
band  can  take  her  back  without  disgrace, 
for  no  one  knows  of  her  flight  but  you  and 
me.  Do  you  think  your  shooting  me  will 
save  her  ?  It  will  spread  the  scandal  far 
and  wide.  For  I  warn  you,  that  as  I  have 
apologized  for  what  you  choose  to  call  my 
personal  insult,  unless  you  murder  me  in 
cold  blood  without  witness,  I  shall  let  them 
know  the  reason  of  your  quarrel.  And  I 
can  tell  you  more :  if  you  only  succeed  in 
stopping  me  here,  and  make  me  lose  my 
chance  of  getting  away,  the  scandal  to  your 
friend  will  be  greater  still." 

Mr.  Hamlin  looked  at  Van  Loo  curiously. 
There  was  a  certain  amount  of  conviction  in 


242  THREE  PAETNEES. 

what  he  said.  He  had  never  met  this  kind 
of  creature  before.  He  had  surpassed  even 
Hamlin's  first  intuition  of  his  character. 
He  amused  and  interested  him.  But  Mr. 
Hamlin  was  also  a  man  of  the  world,  and 
knew  that  Van  Loo's  reasoning  might  be 
good.  He  put  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  and 
said  gravely,  "  What  is  your  little  game  ?  " 

Van  Loo  had  been  seized  with  another 
inspiration  of  desperation.  Steptoe  had 
been  partly  responsible  for  this  situation. 
Van  Loo  knew  that  Jack  and  Steptoe  were 
not  friends.  He  had  certain  secrets  of  Step- 
toe's  that  might  be  of  importance  to  Jack. 
Why  should  he  not  try  to  make  friends  with 
this  powerful  free-lance  and  half -outlaw  ? 

"  It 's  a  game,"  he  said  significantly, 
"that  might  be  of  interest  to  your  friends  to 
hear." 

Hamlin  took  his  hands  out  of  his  pockets, 
turned  on  his  heel,  and  said,  "  Come  with 
me." 

"  But  I  must  go  by  that  coach  now,"  said 
Van  Loo  desperately,  "or  —  I  've  told  you 
what  would  happen." 

"  Come  with  me,"  said  Jack  coolly.  "  If 
I  'm  satisfied  with  what  you  tell  me,  I  '11  put 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  243 

you  down  at  the  next  station  an  hour  before 
that  coach  gets  there." 

"  You  swear  it  ?  "  said  Van  Loo  hesitat 
ingly. 

"  I  've  said  it,"  returned  Jack.  "  Come  !  " 
and  Van  Loo  followed  Mr.  Hamlin  into  the 
station  hotel. 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

THE  abrupt  disappearance  of  Jack  Hamlin 
and  the  strange  lady  and  gentleman  visitor 
was  scarcely  noticed  by  the  other  guests  of 
the  Divide  House,  and  beyond  the  circle 
of  Steptoe  and  his  friends,  who  were  a  dis 
tinct  party  and  strangers  to  the  town,  there 
was  no  excitement.  Indeed,  the  hotel  pro 
prietor  might  have  confounded  them  to 
gether,  and,  perhaps,  Van  Loo  was  not  far 
wrong  in  his  belief  that  their  identity  had 
not  been  suspected.  Nor  were  Steptoe's 
followers  very  much  concerned  in  an  episode 
in  which  they  had  taken  part  only  at  the 
suggestion  of  their  leader,  and  which  had 
terminated  so  tamely.  That  they  would 
have  liked  a  "  row,"  in  which  Jack  Hamlin 
would  have  been  incidentally  forced  to  dis 
gorge  his  winnings,  there  was  no  doubt,  but 
that  their  interference  was  asked  solely  to 
gratify  some  personal  spite  of  Steptoe's 
against  Van  Loo  was  equally  plain  to  them. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  245 

There  was  some  grumbling  and  outspoken 
criticism  of  his  methods. 

This  was  later  made  more  obvious  by  the 
arrival  of  another  guest  for  whom  Steptoe 
and  his  party  were  evidently  waiting.  He 
was  a  short,  stout  man,  whose  heavy  red 
beard  was  trimmed  a  little  more  carefully 
than  when  he  was  first  known  to  Steptoe 
as  Alky  Hall,  the  drunkard  of  Heavy  Tree 
Hill.  His  dress,  too,  exhibited  a  marked 
improvement  in  quality  and  style,  although 
still  characterized  in  the  waist  and  chest  by 
the  unbuttoned  freedom  of  portly  and  slov 
enly  middle  age.  Civilization  had  restricted 
his  potations  or  limited  them  to  certain  fes 
tivals  known  as  "  sprees,"  and  his  face  was 
less  puffy  and  sodden.  But  with  the  acces 
sion  of  sobriety  he  had  lost  his  good  humor, 
and  had  the  irritability  and  intolerance  of 
virtuous  restraint. 

"  Ye  need  n't  ladle  out  any  of  your  forty- 
rod  whiskey  to  me,"  he  said  querulously  to 
Steptoe,  as  he  filed  out  with  the  rest  of  the 
party  through  the  bar-room  into  the  adjacent 
apartment.  "  I  want  to  keep  my  head  level 
till  our  business  is  over,  and  I  reckon  it 
would  n't  hurt  you  and  your  gang  to  do  the 


246  THESE  PAETNEES. 

same.  They  're  less  likely  to  blab ;  and 
there  are  few  doors  that  whiskey  won't  un 
lock,"  he  added,  as  Steptoe  turned  the  key 
in  the  door  after  the  party  had  entered. 

The  room  had  evidently  been  used  for 
meetings  of  directors  or  political  caucuses, 
and  was  roughly  furnished  with  notched 
and  whittled  armchairs  and  a  single  long 
deal  table,  on  which  were  ink  and  pens. 
The  men  sat  down  around  it  with  a  half-em 
barrassed,  half-contemptuous  attitude  of 
formality,  their  bent  brows  and  isolated 
looks  showing  little  community  of  sentiment 
and  scarcely  an  attempt  to  veil  that  indi 
vidual  selfishness  that  was  prominent.  Still 
less  was  there  any  essay  of  companionship 
or  sympathy  in  the  manner  of  Steptoe 
as  he  suddenly  rapped  on  the  table  with  his 
knuckles. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  with  a  certain  de 
liberation  of  utterance,  as  if  he  enjoyed  his 
own  coarse  directness,  "  I  reckon  you  all 
have  a  sort  of  general  idea  what  you  were 
picked  up  for,  or  you  would  n't  be  here. 
But  you  may  or  may  not  know  that  for  the 
present  you  are  honest,  hard-working  miners, 
—  the  backbone  of  the  State  of  Californy, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  247 

—  and  that  you  have  formed  yourselves  into 
a  company  called  the  '  Blue  Jay,'  and  you  've 
settled  yourselves  on  the  Bar  below  Heavy 
Tree  Hill,  on  a  deserted  claim  of  the  Mar 
shall  Brothers,  not  half  a  mile  from  where 
the  big  strike  was  made  five  years  ago. 
That 's  what  you  are,  gentlemen  ;  that 's 
what  you  '11  continue  to  be  until  the  job 's 
finished ;  and,"  he  added,  with  a  sudden 
dominance  that  they  all  felt,  "  the  man  who 
forgets  it  will  have  to  reckon  with  me. 
Now,"  he  continued,  resuming  his  former 
ironical  manner,  "now,  what  are  the  cold 
facts  of  the  case?  The  Marshalls  worked 
this  claim  ever  since  '49,  and  never  got  any 
thing  out  of  it ;  then  they  dropped  off  or 
died  out,  leaving  only  one  brother,  Tom 
Marshall,  to  work  what  was  left  of  it.  Well, 
a  few  days  ago  he  found  indications  of  a  big 
lead  in  the  rock,  and  instead  of  rushin'  out 
and  yellin'  like  an  honest  man,  and  callin' 
in  the  boys  to  drink,  he  sneaks  off  to  'Friscd, 
and  goes  to  the  bank  to  get  'em  to  take  a 
hand  in  it.  Well,  you  know,  when  Jim 
Stacy  takes  a  hand  in  anything,  it 's  both 
hands,  and  the  bank  would  n't  see  it  until 
he  promised  to  guarantee  possession  of  the 


248  THREE  PAETNEES. 

whole  abandoned  claim,  — '  dips,  spurs,  and 
angles,'  —  and  let  them  work  the  whole 
thing,  which  the  d — d  fool  did,  and  the 
bank  agreed  to  send  an  expert  down  there 
to-morrow  to  report.  But  while  he  was 
away  some  one  on  our  side,  who  was  an 
expert  also,  got  wind  of  it,  and  made  an  ex 
amination  all  by  himself,  and  found  it  was 
a  vein  sure  enough  and  a  big  thing,  and 
some  one  else  on  our  side  found  out,  too,  all 
that  Marshall  had  promised  the  bank  and 
what  the  bank  had  promised  him.  Now, 
gentlemen,  when  the  bank  sends  down  that 
expert  to-morrow  I  expect  that  he  will  find 
you  in  possession  of  every  part  of  the  de 
serted  claim  except  the  spot  where  Tom  is 
still  working." 

"And  what  good  is  that  to  us?"  asked 
one  of  the  men  contemptuously. 

"  Good  ?  "  repeated  Steptoe  harshly. 
"  Well,  if  you  're  not  as  d — d  a  fool  as  Mar 
shall,  you  11  see  that  if  he  has  struck  a  lead 
or  vein  it 's  bound  to  run  across  our  claims, 
and  what 's  to  keep  us  from  sinking  for  it 
as  long  as  Marshall  has  n't  worked  the  other 
claims  for  years  nor  preempted  them  for 
this  lead?" 


THREE  PARTNERS.  249 

"  What  '11  keep  him  from  preempting 
now  ?  " 

"  Our  possession." 

"  But  if  he  can  prove  that  the  brothers 
left  their  claims  to  him  to  keep,  he  '11  just 
send  the  sheriff  and  his  posse  down  upon 
us,"  persisted  the  first  speaker. 

"  It  will  take  him  three  months  to  do  that 
by  law,  and  the  sheriff  and  his  posse  can't 
do  it  before  as  long  as  we  're  in  peaceable 
possession  of  it.  And  by  the  time  that 
expert  and  Marshall  return  they  '11  find  us 
in  peaceful  possession,  unless  we  're  such 
blasted  fools  as  to  stay  talking  about  it 
here!" 

"But  what's  to  prevent  Marshall  from 
getting  a  gang  of  his  own  to  drive  us  off  ?  " 

"  Now  your  talkin'  and  not  yelpin',"  said 
Steptoe,  with  slow  insolence.  "  D — d  if  I 
did  n't  begin  to  think  you  kalkilated  I  was 
goin'  to  employ  you  as  lawyers  !  Nothing 
is  to  prevent  him  from  gettin'  up  his  gang, 
and  we  hope  he  '11  do  it,  for  you  see  it  puts 
us  both  on  the  same  level  before  the  law,  for 
we  're  both  breakin1  it.  And  we  kalkilate 
that  we  're  as  good  as  any  roughs  they  can 
pick  up  at  Heavy  Tree." 


250  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  I  reckon  !  "  "  Ye  can  count  us  in  !  " 
said  half  a  dozen  voices  eagerly. 

"  But  what 's  the  job  goin'  to  pay  us  ?  " 
persisted  a  Sydney  man.  "  An'  arter  we  've 
beat  off  this  other  gang,  are  we  going  to 
scrub  along  on  grub  wages  until  we  're 
yanked  out  by  process-sarvers  three  months 
later  ?  If  that 's  the  ticket  I  'm  not  in  it. 
I  are  n't  no  b — y  quartz  miner." 

"  We  ain't  going  to  do  no  more  mining 
there  than  the  bank,"  said  Steptoe  fiercely. 
"  And  the  bank  ain't  going  to  wait  no  three 
months  for  the  end  of  the  lawsuit.  They  '11 
float  the  stock  of  that  mine  for  a  couple  of 
millions,  and  get  out  of  it  with  a  million 
before  a  month.  And  they  '11  have  to  buy 
us  off  to  do  that.  What  they  '11  pay  will 
depend  upon  the  lead ;  but  we  don't  move 
off  those  claims  for  less  than  five  thousand 
dollars,  which  will  be  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  to  each  man.  But,"  said  Steptoe 
in  a  lower  but  perfectly  distinct  voice,  "  if 
there  should  be  a  row,  —  and  they  begin  it, 
—  and  in  the  scuffle  Tom  Marshall,  their 
only  witness,  should  happen  to  get  in  the 
way  of  a  revolver  or  have  his  head  caved  in, 
there  might  be  some  difficulty  in  their  hold- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  251 

in'  any  of  the,  mine  against  honest,  hard 
working  miners  in  possession.  You  hear 
me?" 

There  was  a  breathless  silence  for  the 
moment,  and  a  slight  movement  of  the  men 
in  their  chairs,  but  never  in  fear  or  pro 
test.  Every  one  had  heard  the  speaker  dis 
tinctly,  and  every  man  distinctly  understood 
him.  Some  of  them  were  criminals,  one  or 
two  had  already  the  stain  of  blood  on  their 
hands ;  but  even  the  most  timid,  who  at 
other  times  might  have  shrunk  from  sug 
gested  assassination,  saw  in  the  speaker's 
words  only  the  fair  removal  of  a  natural 
enemy. 

"  All  right,  boys.  I  'm  ready  to  wade  in 
at  once.  Why  ain't  we  on  the  road  now  ? 
We  might  have  been  but  for  foolin'  our 
time  away  on  that  man  Van  Loo." 

"  Yan  Loo  !  "  repeated  Hall  eagerly,  — 
"  Van  Loo  !  Was  he  here  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Steptoe  shortly,  administer 
ing  a  kick  under  the  table  to  Hall,  as  he 
had  no  wish  to  revive  the  previous  irrita 
bility  of  his  comrades.  "  He  's  gone,  but," 
turning  to  the  others,  "  you  'd  have  had  to 
wait  for  Mr.  Hall's  arrival,  anyhow.  And 


252  THREE  PARTNERS. 

now  you  've  got  your  order  you  can  start. 
Go  in  two  parties  by  different  roads,  and 
meet  on  the  other  side  of  the  hotel  at  Hy- 
mettus.  I  '11  be  there  before  you.  Pick 
up  some  shovels  and  drills  as  you  go;  re 
member  you're  honest  miners,  but  don't 
forget  your  shootin'-irons  for  all  that.  Now 
scatter." 

It  was  well  that  they  did,  vacating  the 
room  more  cheerfully  and  sympathetically 
than  they  had  entered  it,  or  Hall's  manifest 
disturbance  over  Van  Loo's  visit  would  have 
been  noticed.  When  the  last  man  had  dis 
appeared  Hall  turned  quickly  to  Steptoe. 
"Well,  what  did  he  say?  Where  has  he 
gone  ?  " 

"  Don't  know,"  'said  Steptoe,  with  uneasy 
curtness.  "  He  was  running  away  with  a 
woman  —  well,  Mrs.  Barker,  if  you  want  to 
know,"  he  added,  with  rising  anger,  "  the 
wife  of  one  of  those  cursed  partners.  Jack 
Hamlin  was  here,  and  was  jockeying  to  stop 
him,  and  interfered.  But  what  the  devil 
has  that  job  to  do  with  our  job  ?  "  He  was 
losing  his  temper ;  everything  seemed  to 
turn  upon  this  infernal  Van  Loo ! 

"  He    was  n't   running   away   with  Mrs. 


THESE  PAETNEES.  253 

Barker,"  gasped  Hall,  —  "it  was  with  her 
money!  and  the  fear  of  being  connected 
with  the  Wheat  Trust  swindle  which  he 
organized,  and  with  our  money  which  I  lent 
him  for  the  same  purpose.  And  he  knows 
all  about  that  job,  for  I  wanted  to  get  him 
to  go  into  it  with  us.  Your  name  and  mine 
ain't  any  too  sweet-smelling  for  the  bank, 
and  we  ought  to  have  a  middleman  who 
knows  business  to  arrange  with  them.  The 
bank  dare  n't  object  to  him,  for  they  've  em 
ployed  him  in  even  shadier  transactions  than 
this  when  they  didn't  wish  to  appear.  I 
knew  he  was  in  difficulties  along  with  Mrs. 
Barker's  speculations,  but  I  never  thought 
him  up  to  this.  And,"  he  added,  with  sud 
den  desperation,  "  you  trusted  him,  too." 

In  an  instant  Steptoe  caught  the  fright 
ened  man  by  the  shoulders  and  was  bearing 
him  down  on  the  table.  "  Are  you  a  traitor, 
a  liar,  or  a  besotted  fool?  "  he  said  hoarsely. 
"  Speak.  When  and  where  did  I  trust 
him?" 

"  You  said  in  your  note  — -  I  was  —  to  — 
help  him,"  gasped  Hall. 

"My  note,"  repeated  Steptoe,  releasing 
Hall  with  astonished  eyes. 


254  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"Yes,"  said  Hall,  tremblingly  searching 
in  his  vest  pocket.  "  I  brought  it  with  me. 
It  is  n't  much  of  a  note,  but  there  's  your 
signature  plain  enough." 

He  handed  Steptoe  a  torn  piece  of  paper 
folded  in  a  three-cornered  shape.  Steptoe 
opened  it.  He  instantly  recognized  the 
paper  on  which  he  had  written  his  name 
and  sent  up  to  his  wife  at  the  Boomville 
Hotel.  But,  added  to  it,  in  apparently  the 
same  hand,  in  smaller  characters,  were  the 
words,  "  Help  Van  Loo  all  you  can." 

The  blood  rushed  into  his  face.  But  he 
quickly  collected  himself ,  and  said  hurriedly, 
"All  right,  I  had  forgotten  it.  Let  the 
d — d  sneak  go.  We  've  got  what 's  a  thou 
sand  times  better  in  this  claim  at  Marshall's, 
and  it 's  well  that  he  is  n't  in  it  to  scoop  the 
lion's  share.  Only  we  must  not  waste  time 
getting  there  now.  You  go  there  first,  and 
at  once,  and  set  those  rascals  to  work.  I  '11 
follow  you  before  Marshall  comes  up.  Get ; 
I  '11  settle  up  here." 

His  face  darkened  once  more  as  Hall  hur 
ried  away,  leaving  him  alone.  He  drew  out 
the  piece  of  paper  from  his  pocket  and  stared 
at  it  again.  Yes ;  it  was  the  one  he  had 


THREE  PARTNERS.  255 

sent  to  his  wife.  How  did  Van  Loo  get 
hold  of  it  ?  Was  he  at  the  hotel  that  night  ? 
Had  he  picked  it  up  in  the  hall  or  passage 
when  the  servant  dropped  it  ?  When  Hall 
handed  him  the  paper  and  he  first  recognized 
it  a  fiendish  thought,  followed  by  a  spasm  of 
more  fiendish  rage,  had  sent  the  blood  to  his 
face.  But  his  crude  common  sense  quickly 
dismissed  that  suggestion  of  his  wife's  com 
plicity  with  Van  Loo.  But  had  she  seen 
him  passing  through  the  hotel  that  night, 
and  had  sought  to  draw  from  him  some 
knowledge  of  his  early  intercourse  with  the 
child,  and  confessed  everything,  and  even 
produced  the  paper  with  his  signature  as  a 
proof  of  identity  ?  Women  had  been  known 
to  do  such  desperate  things.  Perhaps  she 
disbelieved  her  son's  aversion  to  her,  and 
was  trying  to  sound  Van  Loo.  As  for  the 
forged  words  by  Van  Loo,  and  the  use  he 
had  put  them  to,  he  cared  little.  He  believed 
the  man  was  capable  of  forgery ;  indeed,  he 
suddenly  remembered  that  in  the  old  days 
his  son  had  spoken  innocently,  but  admir 
ingly,  of  Van  Loo's  wonderful  chirographi- 
cal  powers  and  his  faculty  of  imitating  the 
writings  of  others,  and  how  he  had  even 


256  THREE  PARTNERS. 

offered  to  teach  him.  A  new  and  exasper 
ating  thought  came  into  his  feverish  con 
sciousness.  What  if  Van  Loo,  in  teaching 
the  boy,  had  even  made  use  of  him  as  an 
innocent  accomplice  to  cover  up  his  own 
tricks !  The  suggestion  was  no  question  of 
moral  ethics  to  Steptoe,  nor  of  his  son's  pos 
sible  contamination,  although  since  the  night 
of  the  big  strike  he  had  held  different  views ; 
it  was  simply  a  fierce,  selfish  jealousy  that 
another  might  have  profited  by  the  lad's 
helplessness  and  inexperience.  He  had  been 
tormented  by  this  jealousy  before  in  his  son's 
liking  for  Van  Loo.  He  had  at  first  encour 
aged  his  admiration  and  imitative  regard  for 
this  smooth  swindler's  graces  and  accom 
plishments,  which,  though  he  scorned  them 
himself,  he  was,  after  the  common  parental 
infatuation,  willing  that  the  boy  should  pro 
fit  by.  Incapable,  through  his  own  con 
sciousness,  of  distinguishing  between  Van 
Loo's  superficial  polish  and  the  true  breed 
ing  of  a  gentleman,  he  had  only  looked  upon 
it  as  an  equipment  for  his  son  which  might 
be  serviceable  to  himself.  He  had  told  his 
wife  the  truth  when  he  informed  her  of  Van 
Loo's  fears  of  being  reminded  of  their  for- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  257 

mer  intimacy ;  but  he  had  not  told  her  how 
its  discontinuance  after  they  had  left  Heavy 
Tree  Hill  had  affected  her  son,  and  how  he 
still  cherished  his  old  admiration  for  that 
specious  rascal.  Nor  had  he  told  her  how 
this  had  stung  him,  through  his  own  selfish 
greed  of  the  boy's  affection.  Yet  now  that 
it  was  possible  that  she  had  met  Van  Loo 
that  evening,  she  might  have  become  aware 
of  Van  Loo's  power  over  her  child.  How 
she  would  exult,  for  all  her  pretended  hatred 
of  Van  Loo !  How,  perhaps,  they  had 
plotted  together !  How  Van  Loo  might 
have  become  aware  of  the  place  where  his 
son  was  kept,  and  have  been  bribed  by  the 
mother  to  tell  her  !  He  stopped  in  a  whirl 
of  giddy  fancies.  His  strong  common  sense 
in  all  other  things  had  been  hitherto  proof 
against  such  idle  dreams  or  suggestions  ;  but 
the  very  strength  of  his  parental  love  and 
jealousy  had  awakened  in  him  at  last  the 
terrors  of  imagination. 

His  first  impulse  had  been  to  seek  his 
wife,  regardless  of  discovery  or  consequences, 
at  Hymettus,  where  she  had  said  she  was 
going.  It  was  on  his  way  to  the  rendezvous 
at  Marshall's  claim.  But  this  he  as  instantly 


258  THREE  PARTNERS. 

set  aside.  It  was  his  son  he  must  find  ;  she 
might  not  confess,  or  might  deceive  him  — 
the  boy  would  not;  and  if  his  fears  were 
correct,  she  could  be  arraigned  afterv/ards. 
It  was  possible  for  him  to  reach  the  little 
Mission  church  and  school,  secluded  in  a 
remote  valley  by  the  old  Franciscan  fathers, 
where  he  had  placed  the  boy  for  the  last  few 
years  unknown  to  his  wife.  It  would  be  a 
long  ride,  but  he  could  still  reach  Heavy  Tree 
Hill  afterwards  before  Marshall  and  the  ex 
pert  arrived.  And  he  had  a  feeling  he  had 
never  felt  before  on  the  eve  of  a  desperate 
adventure,  —  that  he  must  see  the  boy  first. 
He  remembered  how  the  child  had  often 
accompanied  him  in  his  flight,  and  how  he 
had  gained  strength,  and,  it  seemed  to  him, 
a  kind  of  luck,  from  the  touch  of  that  small 
hand  in  his.  Surely  it  was  necessary  now 
that  at  least  his  mind  should  be  at  rest  re 
garding  him  on  the  eve  of  an  affair  of  this 
moment.  Perhaps  he  might  never  see  him 
again.  At  any  other  time,  and  under  the 
influence  of  any  other  emotion,  he  would  have 
scorned  such  a  sentimentalism  —  he  wrho 
had  never  troubled  himself  either  with  pre 
paration  for  the  future  or  consideration  for 


THREE  PARTNERS.  259 

the  past.  But  at  that  moment  he  felt  both. 
He  drew  a  long  breath.  He  could  catch  the 
next  train  to  the  Three  Boulders  and  ride 
thence  to  San  Felipe.  He  hurriedly  left  the 
room,  settled  with  the  landlord,  and  galloped 
to  the  station.  By  the  irony  of  circum 
stances  the  only  horse  available  for  that  pur 
pose  was  Mr.  Hamlin's  own. 

By  two  o'clock  he  was  at  the  Three 
Boulders,  where  he  got  a  fast  horse  and 
galloped  into  San  Felipe  by  four.  As  he 
descended  the  last  slope  through  the  fast 
nesses  of  pines  towards  the  little  valley 
overlooked  in  its  remoteness  and  purely  pas 
toral  simplicity  by  the  gold-seeking  immi 
grants,  —  its  seclusion  as  one  of  the  furthest 
northern  Californian  missions  still  preserved 
through  its  insignificance  and  the  efforts  of 
the  remaining  Brotherhood,  who  used  it  as 
an  infirmary  and  a  school  for  the  few  re 
maining  Spanish  families,  —  he  remembered 
how  he  once  blundered  upon  it  with  the  boy 
while  hotly  pursued  by  a  hue  and  cry  from 
one  of  the  larger  towns,  and  how  he  found 
sanctuary  there.  He  remembered  how,  when 
the  pursuit  was  over,  he  had  placed  the  boy 
there  under  the  padre's  charge.  He  had 


260  THREE  PAETNEES. 

lied  to  his  wife  regarding  the  whereabouts  of 
her  son,  but  he  had  spoken  truly  regarding 
his  free  expenditure  for  the  boy's  mainte 
nance,  and  the  good  fathers  had  accepted, 
equally  for  the  child's  sake  as  for  the 
Church's  sake,  the  generous  "  restitution  " 
which  this  coarse,  powerful,  ruffianly  look 
ing  father  was  apparently  seeking  to  make. 
He  was  quite  aware  of  it  at  the  time,  and 
had  equally  accepted  it  with  grim  cynicism ; 
but  it  now  came  back  to  him  with  a  new  and 
smarting  significance.  Might  they,  too,  not 
succeed  in  weaning  the  boy's  affection  from 
him,  or  if  the  mother  had  interfered,  would 
they  not  side  with  her  in  claiming  an  equal 
right?  He  had  sometimes  laughed  to  him 
self  over  the  security  of  this  hiding-place,  so 
unknown  and  so  unlikely  to  be  discovered 
by  her,  yet  within  easy  reach  of  her  friends 
and  his  enemies ;  he  now  ground  his  teeth 
over  the  mistake  which  his  doting  desire  to 
keep  his  son  accessible  to  him  had  caused 
him  to  make.  He  put  spurs  to  his  horse, 
dashed  down  the  little,  narrow,  ill-paved 
street,  through  the  deserted  plaza,  and  pulled 
up  in  a  cloud  of  dust  before  the  only  re 
maining  tower,  with  its  cracked  belfry,  of 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  261 

the  half-ruined  Mission  church.  A  new 
dormitory  and  school-building  had  been  ex 
tended  from  its  walls,  but  in  a  subdued,  har 
monious,  modest  way,  quite  unlike  the  usual 
glaring»white-pme  glories  of  provincial  towns. 
Steptoe  laughed  to  himself  bitterly.  Some 
of  his  money  had  gone  in  it. 

He  seized  the  horsehair  rope  dangling 
from  a  bell  by  the  wall  and  rang  it  sharply. 
A  soft-footed  priest  appeared,  —  Father  Do- 
minico.  "  Eddy  Horncastle  ?  Ah  !  yes. 
Eddy,  dear  child,  is  gone." 

"  Gone  !  "  shouted  Steptoe  in  a  voice  that 
startled  the  padre.  "  Where  ?  When  ? 
With  whom  ?  " 

"  Pardon,  senor,  but  for  a  time  —  only  a 
pasear  to  the  next  village.  It  is  his  saint's 
day  —  he  has  half -holiday.  He  is  a  good 
boy.  It  is  a  little  pleasure  for  him  and  for 
us." 

"  Oh !  "  said  Steptoe,  softened  into  a 
rough  apology.  "  I  forgot.  All  right. 
Has  he  had  any  visitors  lately  —  lady,  for 
instance  ?  " 

Father  Dominico  cast  a  look  half  of 
fright,  half  of  reproval  upon  his  guest. 

"  A  lady  here  !  " 


262  THREE  PARTNERS. 

In  his  relief  Steptoe  burst  into  a  coarse 
laugh.  "Of  course  ;  you  see  I  forgot  that, 
too.  I  was  thinking  of  one  of  his  woman 
folks,  you  know  —  relatives  —  aunts.  Was 
there  any  other  visitor?" 

"  Only  one.  Ah !  we  know  the  senor's 
rules  regarding  his  son." 

"  One  ?  "  repeated  Steptoe.  "  Who  was 
it?" 

"  Oh,  quite  an  hidalgo —  an  old  friend  of 
the  child's  —  most  polite,  most  accomplished, 
fluent  in  Spanish,  perfect  in  deportment. 
The  Senor  Horncastle  surely  could  find 
nothing  to  object  to.  Father  Pedro  was 
charmed  with  him.  A  man  of  affairs,  and 
yet  a  good  Catholic,  too.  It  was  a  Senor 
Van  Loo  —  Don  Paul  the  boy  called  him, 
and  they  talked  of  the  boy's  studies  in  the 
old  days  as  if  —  indeed,  but  for  the  stranger 
being  a  caballero  and  man  of  the  world  — 
as  if  he  had  been  his  teacher." 

It  was  a  proof  of  the  intensity  of  the  fa 
ther's  feelings  that  they  had  passed  beyond 
the  power  of  his  usual  coarse,  brutal  expres 
sion,  and  he  only  stared  at  the  priest  with  a 
dull  red  face  in  which  the  blood  seemed  to 
have  stagnated.  Presently  he  said  thickly, 
"  When  did  he  come  ?  " 


THREE  PARTNERS.  263 

"  A  few  days  ago." 

«  Which  way  did  Eddy  go  ?  " 

"  To  Brown's  Mills,  scarcely  a  league 
away.  He  will  be  here  —  even  now  —  on 
the  instant.  But  the  senor  will  come  into 
the  refectory  and  take  some  of  the  old  Mis 
sion  wine  from  the  Catalan  grape,  planted 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  until  the 
dear  child  returns.  He  will  be  so  happy." 

"  No  !  I  'm  in  a  hurry.  I  will  go  on 
and  meet  him."  He  took  off  his  hat, 
mopped  his  crisp,  wet  hair  with  his  handker 
chief,  and  in  a  thick,  slow,  impeded  voice, 
more  suggestive  than  the  outburst  he  re 
strained,  said,  "  And  as  long  as  my  son 
remains  here  that  man,  Van  Loo,  must  not 
pass  this  gate,  speak  to  him,  or  even  see 
him.  You  hear  me  ?  See  to  it,  you  and 
all  the  others.  See  to  it,  I  say,  or  "  He 
stopped  abruptly,  clapped  his  hat  on  the 
swollen  veins  of  his  forehead,  turned  quickly, 
passed  out  without  another  word  through 
the  archway  into  the  road,  and  before  the 
good  priest  could  cross  himself  or  recover 
from  his  astonishment  the  thud  of  his 
horse's  hoofs  came  from  the  dusty  road. 

It  was  ten  minutes  before  his  face  resumed 


264  THESE  PARTNERS. 

its  usual  color.  But  in  that  ten  minutes,  as 
if  some  of  the  struggle  of  his  rider  had 
passed  into  him,  his  horse  was  sweating 
with  exhaustion  and  fear.  For  in  that  ten 
minutes,  in  this  new  imagination  with  which 
he  was  cursed,  he  had  killed  both  Van  Loo 
and  his  son,  and  burned  the  refectory  over 
the  heads  of  the  treacherous  priests.  Then, 
quite  himself  again,  a  voice  came  to  him 
from  the  rocky  trail  above  the  road  with  the 
hail  of  "  Father  !  "  He  started  quickly  as 
a  lad  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  came  bounding 
down  the  hillside,  and  ran  towards  him. 

"  You  passed  me  and  I  called  to  you,  but 
you  did  not  seem  to  hear,"  said  the  boy 
breathlessly.  "  Then  I  ran  after  you. 
Have  you  been  to  the  Mission  ?  " 

Steptoe  looked  at  him  quite  as  breath 
lessly,  but  from  a  deeper  emotion.  He  was, 
even  at  first  sight,  a  handsome  lad,  glowing 
with  youth  and  the  excitement  of  his  run, 
and,  as  the  father  looked  at  him,  he  could 
see  the  likeness  to  his  mother  in  his  clear- 
cut  features,  and  even  a  resemblance  to  him 
self  in  his  square,  compact  chest  and  shoul 
ders  and  crisp,  black  curls.  A  thrill  of 
purely  animal  paternity  passed  over  him, 


THREE  PARTNERS.  265 

the  fierce  joy  of  his  flesh  over  his  own  flesh ! 
His  own  son,  by  God !  They  could  not  take 
that  from  him ;  they  might  plot,  swindle, 
fawn,  cheat,  lie,  and  steal  away  his  affec 
tions,  but  there  he  was,  plain  to  all  eyes, 
his  own  son,  his  very  son ! 

"Come  here,"  he  said  in  a  singular,  half- 
weary  and  half-protesting  voice,  which  the 
boy  instantly  recognized  as  his  father's  ac 
cents  of  affection. 

The  boy  hesitated  as  he  stood  on  the  edge 
of  the  road  and  pointed  with  mingled  mis 
chief  and  fastidiousness  to  the  depths  of 
impalpable  red  dust  that  lay  between  him 
and  the  horseman.  Steptoe  saw  that  he 
was  very  smartly  attired  in  holiday  guise, 
with  white  duck  trousers  and  patent  leather 
shoes,  and,  after  the  Spanish  fashion,  wore 
black  kid  gloves.  He  certainly  was  a  bit 
of  a.  dandy,  as  he  had  said.  The  father's 
whole  face  changed  as  he  wheeled  and  came 
before  the  lad,  who  lifted  up  his  arms  expect 
antly.  They  had  often  ridden  together  on 
the  same  horse. 

"  No  rides  to-day  in  that  toggery,  Eddy," 
he  said  in  the  same  voice.  "  But  I  '11  get 
down  and  we  '11  go  and  sit  somewhere  under 


266  THESE  PARTNERS. 

a  tree  and  have  some  talk.  I  've  got  a  bit 
of  a  job  that 's  hurrying  me,  and  I  can't 
waste  time." 

"Not  one  of  your  old  jobs,  father?  I 
thought  you  had  quite  given  that  up  ?  " 

The  boy  spoke  more  carelessly  than  re 
proachfully,  or  even  wonderingly  ;  yet,  as  he 
dismounted  and  tethered  his  horse,  Steptoe 
answered  evasively,  "  It  's  a  big  thing, 
sonny;  maybe  we'll  make  our  eternal  for 
tune,  and  then  we  '11  light  out  from  this 
hole  and  have  a  gay  tune  elsewhere.  Come 
along." 

He  took  the  boy's  gloved  right  hand  in  his 
own  powerful  grasp,  and  together  they  clam 
bered  up  the  steep  hillside  to  a  rocky  ledge 
on  which  a  fallen  pine  from  above  had 
crashed,  snapped  itself  in  twain,  and  then 
left  its  withered  crown  to  hang  half  down 
the  slope,  while  the  other  half  rested  on 
the  ledge.  On  this  they  sat,  looking  down 
upon  the  road  and  the  tethered  horse.  A 
gentle  breeze  moved  the  treetops  above  their 
heads,  and  the  westering  sun  played  hide- 
and-seek  with  the  shifting  shadows.  The 
boy's  face  was  quick  and  alert  with  all  that 
moved  round  him,  but  without  thought ;  the 


THREE  PARTNERS.  267 

father's  face  was  heavy,  except  for  the  eyes 
that  were  fixed  upon  his  son. 

"  Van  Loo  came  to  the  Mission,"  he  said 
suddenly. 

The  boy's  eyes  glittered  quickly,  like  a 
steel  that  pierced  the  father's  heart.  "  Oh," 
he  said  simply,  "  then  it  was  the  padre  told 
you?" 

"  How  did  he  know  you  were  here  ? " 
asked  Steptoe. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  the  boy  quietly. 
"  I  think  he  said  something,  but  I  've  for 
gotten  it.  But  it  was  mighty  good  of  him 
to  come,  for  I  thought,  you  know,  that  he 
did  not  care  to  see  me  after  Heavy  Tree, 
and  that  he  'd  gone  back  on  us." 

"  What  did  he  tell  you  ?  "  continued  Step- 
toe.  "  Did  he  talk  of  me  or  of  your 
mother?" 

"  No,"  said  the  boy,  but  without  any  show 
of  interest  or  sympathy  ;  "  we  talked  mostly 
about  old  times." 

"  Tell  me  about  those  old  times,  Eddy. 
You  never  told  me  anything  about  them." 

The  boy,  momentarily  arrested  more  by 
something  in  the  tone  of  his  father's  voice 
—  a  weakness  he  had  never  noticed  before 


268  THREE  PARTNERS. 

—  than  by  any  suggestion  of  his  words, 
said  with  a  laugh,  "  Oh,  only  about  what  we 
used  to  do  .when  I  was  very  little  and  used 
to  call  myself  his  '  lityle  brother,'  —  don't 
you  remember,  long  before  the  big  strike  on 
Heavy  Tree  ?  They  were  gay  times  we  had 
then." 

"  And  how  he  used  to  teach  you  to  imi 
tate  other  people's  handwriting  ?  "  said  Step- 
toe. 

"What  made  you  think  of  that,  pop?" 
said  the  boy,  with  a  slight  wonder  in  his 
eyes.  "  Why,  that 's  the  very  thing  we  did 
talk  about." 

"  But  you  did  n't  do  it  again  ;  you  ain't 
done  it  since,"  said  Steptoe  quickly. 

"  Lord !  no,"  said  the  boy  contemptu 
ously.  "  There  ain't  no  chance  now,  and 
there  would  n't  be  any  fun  in  it.  It  is  n't 
like  the  old  times  when  him  and  me  were 
all  alone,  and  we  used  to  write  letters  as 
coming  from  other  people  to  all  the  boys 
round  Heavy  Tree  and  the  Bar,  and  some 
times  as  far  as  Boomville,  to  get  them  to  do 
things,  and  they  'd  think  the  letters  were 
real,  and  they  'd  do  'em.  And  there  'd  be 
the  biggest  kind  of  a  row,  and  nobody  ever 
knew  who  did  it." 


THREE  PAETNEES.  269 

Steptoe  stared  at  this  flesh  of  his  own 
flesh  half  in  relief,  half  in  frightened  admira 
tion.  Sitting  astride  the  log,  his  elbows  on 
his  knees  and  his  gloved  hands  supporting 
his  round  cheeks,  the  boy's  handsome  face 
became  illuminated  with  an  impish  devilry 
which  the  father  had  never  seen  before. 
With  dancing  eyes  he  went  on.  "  It  was  one 
of  those  very  games  we  played  so  long  ago 
that  he  wanted  to  see  me  about  and  wanted 
me  to  keep  mum  about,  for  some  of  the 
folks  that  he  played  it  on  were  around  here 
now.  It  was  a  game  we  got  off  on  one  of 
the  big  strike  partners  long  before  the  strike. 
I  '11  tell  you,  dad,  for  you  know  what  hap 
pened  afterwards,  and  you  '11  be  glad.  Well, 
that  partner  —  Demorest  —  was  a  kind  of 
silly,  you  remember  —  a  sort  of  Miss  Nancy- 
ish  fellow  —  always  gloomy  and  lovesick 
after  his  girl  in  the  States.  Well,  we  'd 
written  lots  of  letters  to  girls  from  their 
chaps  before,  and  got  lots  of  fun  out  of  it ; 
but  we  had  even  a  better  show  for  a  game 
here,  for  it  happened  that  Van  Loo  knew 
all  about  the  girl  —  things  that  even  the 
man's  own  partners  did  n't,  for  Van  Loo's 
mother  was  a  sort  of  a  friend  of  the  girl's 


270  THREE  PARTNERS. 

family,  and  traveled  about  with  her,  and  knew 
that  the  girl  was  spoony  over  this  Demorest, 
and  that  they  corresponded.  So,  knowing 
that  Van  Loo  was  employed  at  Heavy  Tree, 
she  wrote  to  him  to  find  out  all  about  De 
morest  and  how  to  stop  their  foolish  non 
sense,  for  the  girl's  parents  did  n't  want  her 
to  marry  a  broken-down  miner  like  him.  So 
we  thought  we  'd  do  it  our  own  way,  and 
write  a  letter  to  her  as  if  it  was  from  him, 
don't  you  see  ?  I  wanted  to  make  him  call 
her  awful  names,  and  say  that  he  hated  her, 
that  he  was  a  murderer  and  a  horse-thief, 
and  that  he  had  killed  a  policeman,  and  that 
he  was  thinking  of  becoming  a  Digger  Injin, 
and  having  a  Digger  squaw  for  a  wife,  which 
he  liked  better  than  her.  Lord  !  dad,  you 
ought  to  have  seen  what  stuff  I  made  up." 
The  boy  burst  into  a  shrill,  half -feminine 
laugh,  and  Steptoe,  catching  the  infection, 
laughed  loudly  in  his  own  coarse,  brutal 
fashion. 

For  some  moments  they  sat  there  looking 
in  each  other's  faces,  shaking  with  sympa 
thetic  emotion,  the  father  forgetting  the  pur 
pose  of  his  coming  there,  his  rage  over  Van 
Loo's  visit,  and  even  the  rendezvous  to 


THREE  PAETNEES.  271 

which  his  horse  in  the  road  below  was  .wait 
ing  to  bring  him  ;  the  son  forgetting  their 
retreat  from  Heavy  Tree  Hill  and  his  shame 
ful  vagabond  wanderings  with  that  father 
in  the  years  that  followed.  The  sinking  sun 
stared  blankly  in  their  faces  ;  the  protecting 
pines  above  them  moved  by  a  stronger  gust 
shook  a  few  cones  upon  them  ;  an  enormous 
crow  mockingly  repeated  the  father's  coarse 
laugh,  and  a  squirrel  scampered  away  from 
the  strangely  assorted  pair  as  Steptoe,  wip 
ing  his  eyes  and  forehead  with  his  pocket- 
handkerchief,  said  :  — 

"  And  did  you  send  it  ?  " 

"  Oh !  Van  Loo  thought  it  too  strong. 
Said  that  those  sort  of  love-sick  fools  made 
more  fuss  over  little  things  than  they  did 
over  big  things,  and  he  sort  of  toned  it 
down,  and  fixed  it  up  himself.  But  it  told. 
For  there  were  never  any  more  letters  in 
the  post-office  in  her  handwriting,  and  there 
was  n't  any  posted  to  her  in  his." 

They  both  laughed  again,  and  then  Step- 
toe  rose.  "I  must  be  getting  along,"  he 
said,  looking  curiously  at  the  boy.  "  I  've 
got  to  catch  a  train  at  Three  Boulders  Sta 
tion." 


272  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  Three  Boulders  !  "  repeated  the  boy. 
"  I  'm  going  there,  too,  on  Friday,  to  meet 
Father  Cipriano." 

"  I  reckon  my  work  will  be  all  done  by 
Friday,"  said  Steptoe  musingly.  Standing 
thus,  holding  his  boy's  hand,  he  was  think 
ing  that  the  real  fight  at  Marshall's  would 
not  take  place  at  once,  for  it  might  take  a 
day  or  two  for  Marshall  to  gather  forces. 
But  he  only  pressed  his  son's  hand  gently. 

"  I  wish  you  would  sometimes  take  me 
with  you  as  you  used  to,"  said  the  boy  curi 
ously.  "  I  'm  bigger  now,  and  would  n't  be 
in  your  way." 

Steptoe  looked  at  the  boy  with  a  choking 
sense  of  satisfaction  and  pride.  But  he  said, 
"  No ;  "  and  then  suddenly  with  simulated 
humor,  "  Don't  you  be  taken  in  by  any  let 
ters  from  me,  such  as  you  and  Van  Loo 
used  to  write.  You  hear  ?  " 

The  boy  laughed. 

"  And,"  continued  Steptoe,  "  if  anybody 
says  I  sent  for  you,  don't  you  believe  them." 

"  No,"  said  the  boy,  smiling. 

"  And  don't  you  even  believe  I  'm  dead 
till  you  see  me  so.  You  understand.  By 
the  way,  Father  Pedro  has  some  money  of 


THREE  PARTNEES.  273 

mine  kept  for  you.  Now  hurry  back  to 
school  and  say  you  met  me,  but  that  I  was 
in  a  great  hurry.  I  reckon  I  may  have  been 
rather  rough  to  the  priests." 

They  had  reached  the  lower  road  again, 
and  Steptoe  silently  unhitched  his  horse. 
"  Good-by,"  he  said,  as  he  laid  his  hand  on 
the  boy's  arm. 

"  Good-by,  dad." 

He  mounted  his  horse  slowly.  "  Well," 
he  said  smilingly,  looking  down  the  road, 
"  you  ain't  got  anything  more  to  say  to  me, 
have  you?" 

"  No,  dad." 

"  Nothin'  you  want  ?  " 

"  Nothin',  dad." 

"  AU  right.     Good-by." 

He  put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  cantered 
down  the  road  without  looking  back.  The 
boy  watched  him  with  idle  curiosity  until  he 
disappeared  from  sight,  and  then  went  on 
his  way,  whistling  and  striking  off  the  heads 
of  the  wayside  weeds  with  his  walking-stick. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  sun  arose  so  brightly  over  Hymettus 
on  the  morning  after  the  meeting  of  the 
three  partners  that  it  was  small  wonder  that 
Barker's  impressionable  nature  quickly  re 
sponded  to  it,  and,  without  awakening  the 
still  sleeping  child,  he  dressed  hurriedly,  and 
was  the  first  to  greet  it  in  the  keen  air  of 
the  slope  behind  the  hotel.  To  his  panthe 
istic  spirit  it  had  always  seemed  as  natural 
for  him  to  early  welcome  his  returning  bro 
thers  of  the  woods  and  hills  as  to  say  good- 
morning  to  his  fellow  mortals.  And,  in 
the  joy  of  seeing  Black  Spur  rising  again  to 
his  level  in  the  distance  before  him,  he 
doffed  his  hat  to  it  with  a  return  of  his  old 
boyish  habit,  laid  his  arm  caressingly  around 
the  great  girth  of  the  nearest  pine,  clapped 
his  hands  to  the  scampering  squirrels  in  his 
path,  and  whistled  to  the  dipping  jays.  In 
this  way  he  quite  forgot  the  more  serious 
affairs  of  the  preceding  night,  or,  rather,  saw 


THREE  PARTNERS.  275 

them  only  in  the  gilding  of  the  morning, 
until,  looking  up,  he  perceived  the  tall  figure 
of  Demorest  approaching  him;  and  then  it 
struck  him  with  his  first  glance  at  his  old 
partner's  face  that  his  usual  suave,  gentle 
melancholy  had  been  succeeded  by  a  critical 
cynicism  of  look  and  a  restrained  bitterness 
of  accent.  Barker's  loyal  heart  smote  him 
for  his  own  selfishness  ;  Demorest  had  been 
hard  hit  by  the  discovery  of  the  forgery  and 
Stacy's  concern  in  it,  and  had  doubtless 
passed  a  restless  night,  while  he  (Barker) 
had  forgotten  all  about  it.  "I  thought  of 
knocking  at  your  door,  as  I  passed,"  he  said, 
with  sympathetic  apology,  "  but  I  was  afraid 
I  might  disturb  you.  Is  n't  it  glorious  here  ? 
Quite  like  the  old  hill.  Look  at  that  lizard ; 
he  has  n't  moved  since  he  first  saw  me.  Do 
you  remember  the  one  who  used  to  steal  our 
sugar,  and  then  stiffen  himself  into  stone  on 
the  edge  of  the  bowl  until  he  looked  like  an 
ornamental  handle  to  it  ?  "  he  continued,  re 
bounding  again  into  spirits. 

"  Barker,"  said  Demorest  abruptly,  "  what 
sort  of  woman  is  this  Mrs.  Van  Loo,  whose 
rooms  I  occupy  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  said    Barker,  with  optimistic  in- 


276  THREE  PAETNEES. 

nocence,  "  a  most  proper  woman,  old  chap. 
White-haired,  well-dressed,  with  a  little  for 
eign  accent  and  a  still  more  foreign  courtesy. 
Why,  you  don't  suppose  we  'd  " 

"  But  what  is  she  like  ?  "  said  Demorest 
impatiently. 

"  Well,"  said  Barker  thoughtfully,  "  she  's 
the  kind  of  woman  who  might  be  Van  Loo's 
mother,  I  suppose." 

"  You  mean  the  mother  of  a  forger  and  a 
swindler  ?  "  asked  Demorest  sharply. 

"  There  are  no  mothers  of  swindlers  and 
forgers,"  said  Barker  gravely,  "  in  the  way 
you  mean.  It 's  only  those  poor  devils,"  he 
said,  pointing,  nevertheless,  with  a  certain 
admiration  to  a  circling  sparrow-hawk  above 
him,  "  who  have  inherited  instincts.  What 
I  mean  is  that  she  might  be  Van  Loo's  mo 
ther,  because  he  did  n't  select  her." 

"  Where  did  she  come  from  ?  and  how 
long  has  she  been  here  ?  "  asked  Demorest. 

"  She  came  from  abroad,  I  believe.  And 
she  came  here  just  after  you  left.  Van  Loo, 
after  he  became  secretary  of  the  Ditch  Com 
pany,  sent  for  her  and  her  daughter  to  keep 
house  for  him.  But  you  '11  see  her  to-day  or 
to-morrow  probably,  when  she  returns.  I  '11 


THREE  PARTNERS.  277 

introduce  you ;  site  '11  be  rather  glad  to  meet 
some  one  from  abroad,  and  all  the  more  if 
he  happens  to  be  rich  and  distinguished,  and 
eligible  for  her  daughter."  He  stopped 
suddenly  in  his  smile,  remembering  Demo- 
rest's  lifelong  secret.  But  to  his  surprise 
his  companion's  face,  instead  of  darkening 
as  it  was  wont  to  do  at  any  such  allusion, 
brightened  suddenly  with  a  singular  excite 
ment  as  he  answered  dryly, "  Ah  well,  if  the 
girl  is  pretty,  who  knows !  " 

Indeed,  his  spirits  seemed  to  have  re 
turned  with  strange  vivacity  as  they  walked 
back  to  the  hotel,  and  he  asked  many  other 
questions  regarding  Mrs.  Van  Loo  and  her 
daughter,  and  particularly  if  the  daughter 
had  also  been  abroad.  When  they  reached 
the  veranda  they  found  a  few  early  risers 
eagerly  reading  the  Sacramento  papers, 
which  had  just  arrived,  or,  in  little  knots, 
discussing  the  news.  Indeed,  they  would 
probably  have  stopped  Barker  and  his  com 
panion  had  not  Barker,  anxious  to  relieve 
his  friend's  curiosity,  hurried  with  him  at 
once  to  the  manager's  office. 

"  Can  you  tell  me  exactly  when  you  ex 
pect  Mrs.  Van  Loo  to  return  ?  "  asked 
Barker  quickly. 


278  THREE  PARTNERS. 

The  manager  with  difficulty  detached 
himself  from  the  newspaper  which  he,  too, 
was  anxiously  perusing,  and  said,  with  a 
peculiar  smile,  "  Well  no !  she  was  to  return 
to-day,  but  if  you're  wanting  to  keep  her 
rooms,  I  should  say  there  would  n't  be  any 
trouble  about  it,  as  she  '11  hardly  be  coming 
back  here  now.  She 's  rather  high  and 
mighty  in  style,  I  know,  and  a  determined 
sort  of  critter,  but  I  reckon  she  and  her 
daughter  would  n't  care  much  to  be  waltzing 
round  in  public  after  what  has  happened." 

"  I  don't  understand  you,"  said  Demorest 
impatiently.  "  What  has  happened  ?  " 

"  Haven't  you  heard  the  news ?  "  said  the 
manager  in  surprise.  "  It 's  in  all  the  Sac 
ramento  papers.  Van  Loo  is  a  defaulter  — 
has  hypothecated  everything  he  had  and 
skedaddled." 

Barker  started.  He  was  not  thinking  of 
the  loss  of  his  wife's  money  —  only  of  her 
disappointment  and  mortification  over  it. 
Poor  girl!  Perhaps  she  was  also  worrying 
over  his  resentment,  —  as  if  she  did  not  know 
him  !  He  would  go  to  her  at  once  at  Boom- 
ville.  Then  he  remembered  that  she  was 
coming  with  Mrs.  Horncastle,  and  might  be 


THREE  PARTNERS.  279 

already  on  her  way  here  by  rail  or  coach, 
and  he  would  miss  her.  Demorest  in  the 
meantime  had  seized  a  paper,  and  was  in 
tently  reading  it. 

"  There  's  bad  news,  too,  for  your  friend, 
your  old  partner,"  said  the  manager  half  sym 
pathetically,  half  interrogatively.  "  There 
has  been  a  drop  out  in  everything  the  bank 
is  carrying,  and  everybody  is  unloading. 
Two  firms  failed  in  'Frisco  yesterday  that 
were  carrying  things  for  the  bank,  and  have 
thrown  everything  back  on  it.  There  was 
an  awful  panic  last  night,  and  they  say  none 
of  the  big  speculators  know  where  they 
stand.  Three  of  our  best  customers  in  the 
hotel  rushed  off  to  the  bay  this  morning, 
but  Stacy  himself  started  before  daylight, 
and  got  the  through  night  express  to  stop 
for  him  on  the  Divide  on  signal.  Shall  I 
send  any  telegrams  that  may  come  to  your 
room  ?  " 

Demorest  knew  that  the  manager  sus 
pected  him  of  being  interested  in  the  bank, 
and  understood  the  purport  of  the  question. 
He  answered,  with  calm  surprise,  that  he 
was  expecting  no  telegrams,  and  added, 
"But  if  Mrs.  Van  Loo  returns  I  beg  you 


280  THREE  PARTNERS. 

to  at  once  let  me  know,"  and  taking  Barker's 
arm  he  went  in  to  breakfast.  Seated  by 
themselves,  Demorest  looked  at  his  compan 
ion.  "I'm  afraid,  Barker  boy,  that  this 
thing  is  more  serious  to  Jim  than  we  ex 
pected  last  night,  or  than  he  cared  to  tell 
us.  And  you,  old  man,  I  fear  are  hurt  a 
little  by  Van  Loo's  flight.  He  had  some 
money  of  your  wife's,  had  n't  he  ?  " 

Barker,  who  knew  that  the  bulk  of  Demo- 
rest's  fortune  was  in  Stacy's  hands,  was 
touched  at  this  proof  of  his  unselfish  thought, 
and  answered  with  equal  unselfishness  that 
he  was  concerned  only  by  the  fear  of  Mrs. 
Barker's  disappointment.  "  Why,  Lord ! 
Phil,  whether  she  's  lost  or  saved  her  money 
it 's  nothing  to  me.  I  gave  it  to  her  to  do 
what  she  liked  with  it,  but  I  'm  afraid  she  '11 
be  worrying  over  what  /  think  of  it,  —  as 
if  she  did  not  know  me !  And  I  'm  half  a 
mind,  if  it  were  not  for  missing  her,  to  go 
over  to  Boomville,  where  she 's  stopping." 

"  I  thought  you  said  she  was  in  San  Fran 
cisco  ?  "  said  Demorest  abstractedly. 

Barker  colored.  "  Yes,"  he  answered 
quickly.  "But  I've  heard  since  that  she 
stopped  at  Boomville  on  the  way." 


I 
THESE  PAETNEES.  281 

"  Then  don't  let  me  keep  you  here,"  re 
turned  Demorest.  "  For  if  Jim  telegraphs 
to  me  I  shall  start  for  San  Francisco  at 
once,  and  I  rather  think  he  will.  I  did  not 
like  to  say  so  before  those  panic-mongers 
outside  who  are  stampeding  everything ;  so 
run  along,  Barker  boy,  and  ease  your  mind 
about  the  wife.  We  may  have  other  things 
to  think  about  soon." 

Thus  adjured,  Barker  rose  from  his  half- 
finished  breakfast  and  slipped  away.  Yet 
he  was  not  quite  certain  what  to  do.  His 
wife  must  have  heard  the  news  at  Boom- 
ville  as  quickly  as  he  had,  and,  if  so,  would 
be  on  her  way  with  Mrs.  Horncastle  ;  or 
she  might  be  waiting  for  him  —  knowing, 
too,  that  he  had  heard  the  news  —  in  fear 
and  trembling.  For  it  was  Barker's  custom 
to  endow  all  those  he  cared  for  with  his  own 
sensitiveness,  and  it  was  not  like  him  to 
reflect  that  the  woman  who  had  so  recklessly 
speculated  against  his  opinion  would  scarcely 
fear  his  reproaches  in  her  defeat.  In  the 
f  ullness  of  his  heart  he  telegraphed  to  her  in 
case  she  had  not  yet  left  Boomville :  "  All 
right.  Have  heard  news.  Understand  per 
fectly.  Don't  worry.  Come  to  me."  Then 


282  THREE  PARTNERS. 

he  left  the  hotel  by  the  stable  entrance  in 
order  to  evade  the  guests  who  had  congre 
gated  on  the  veranda,  and  made  his  way  to 
a  little  wooded  crest  which  he  knew  com 
manded  a  view  of  the  two  roads  from  Boom- 
ville.  Here  he  determined  to  wait  and  in 
tercept  her  before  she  reached  the  hotel. 
He  knew  that  many  of  the  guests  were 
aware  of  his  wife's  speculations  with  Van 
Loo,  and  that  he  was  her  broker.  He 
wished  to  spare  her  running  the  gauntlet  of 
their  curious  stares  and  comments  as  she 
drove  up  alone.  As  he  was  climbing  the 
slope  the  coach  from  Sacramento  dashed 
past  him  on  the  road  below,  but  he  knew 
that  it  had  changed  horses  at  Boomville  at 
four  o'clock,  and  that  his  tired  wife  would 
not  have  availed  herself  of  it  at  that  hour, 
particularly  as  she  could  not  have  yet  re 
ceived  the  fateful  news.  He  threw  himself 
under  a  large  pine,  and  watched  the  stage 
coach  disappear  as  it  swept  round  into  the 
courtyard  of  the  hotel. 

He  sat  there  for  some  moments  with  his 
eyes  bent  upon  the  two  forks  of  the  red 
road  that  diverged  below  him,  but  which 
appeared  to  become  whiter  and  more  daz- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  283 

zling  as  he  searched  their  distance.  There 
was  nothing  to  be  seen  except  an  occasional 
puff  of  dust  which  eventually  revealed  a 
horseman  or  a  long  trailing  cloud  out  of 
which  a  solitary  mule,  one  of  a  pack-train  of 
six  or  eight,  would  momentarily  emerge  and 
be  lost  again.  Then  he  suddenly  heard  his 
name  called,  and,  looking  up,  saw  Mrs. 
Horncastle,  who  had  halted  a  few  paces 
from  him  between  two  columns  of  the  long- 
drawn  aisle  of  pines. 

In  that  mysterious  half-light  she  seemed 
such  a  beautiful  and  goddess-like  figure  that 
his  consciousness  at  first  was  unable  to  grasp 
anything  else.  She  was  always  wonderfully 
well  dressed,  but  the  warmth  and  seclusion 
of  this  mountain  morning  had  enabled  her 
to  wear  a  light  gown  of  some  delicate  fabric 
which  set  off  the  grace  of  her  figure,  and 
even  pardoned  the  rural  coquetry  of  a  silken 
sash  around  her  still  slender  waist.  An 
open  white  parasol  thrown  over  her  shoulder 
made  a  nimbus  for  her  charming  head  and 
the  thick  coils  of  hair  under  her  lace-edged 
hat.  He  had  never  seen  her  look  so  beauti 
ful  before.  And  that  thought  was  so  plainly 
in  his  frank  face  and  eyes  as  he  sprang  to 


284  THREE  PAETNEBS. 

his  feet  that  it  brought  a  slight  rise  of  color 
to  her  own  cheek. 

"  I  saw  you  climbing  up  here  as  I  passed 
in  the  coach  a  few  minutes  ago,"  she  said, 
with  a  smile,  "  and  as  soon  as  I  had  shaken 
the  dust  off  I  followed  you." 

"  Where 's  Kitty  ?  "  he  stammered. 

The  color  faded  from  her  face  as  it  had 
come,  and  a  shade  of  something  like  reproach 
crept  into  her  dark  eyes.  And  whatever  it 
had  been  her  purpose  to  say,  or  however 
carefully  she  might  have  prepared  herself 
for  this  interview,  she  was  evidently  taken 
aback  by  the  sudden  directness  of  the  in 
quiry.  Barker  saw  this  as  quickly,  and  as 
quickly  referred  it  to  his  own  rudeness. 
His  whole  soul  rushed  in  apology  to  his  face 
as  he  said,  "  Oh,  forgive  me !  I  was  anxious 
about  Kitty  ;  indeed,  I  had  thought  of  com 
ing  again  to  Boomville,  for  you  've  heard  the 
news,  of  course?  Van  Loo  is  a  defaulter, 
and  has  run  away  with  the  poor  child's 
money." 

Mrs.  Horncastle  had  heard  the  news  at 
the  hotel.  She  paused  a  moment  to  collect 
herself,  and  then  said  slowly  and  tentatively, 
with  a  watchful  intensity  in  her  eyes,  "Mrs. 
Barker  went,  I  think,  to  the  Divide  "  — 


THEEE  PAETNEES.  285 

But  she  was  instantly  interrupted  by  the 
eager  Barker.  "  I  see.  I  thought  of  that 
at  once.  She  went  directly  to  the  company's 
offices  to  see  if  she  could  save  anything  from 
the  wreck  before  she  saw  me.  It  was  like 
her,  poor  girl !  And  you  —  you,"  he  went 
on  eagerly,  his  whole  face  beaming  with 
gratitude,  — "  you,  out  of  your  goodness, 
came  here  to  tell  me."  He  held  out  both 
hands  and  took  hers  in  his. 

For  a  moment  Mrs.  Horncastle  was  speech 
less  and  vacillating.  She  had  often  noticed 
before  that  it  was  part  of  the  irony  of  the 
creation  of  such  a  simple  nature  as  Barker's 
that  he  was  not  only  open  to  deceit,  but 
absolutely  seemed  to  invite  it.  Instead  of 
making  others  franker,  people  were  inclined 
to  rebuke  his  credulity  by  restraint  and 
equivocation  on  their  own  part.  But  the 
evasion  thus  offered  to  her,  although  only 
temporary,  was  a  temptation  she  could  not 
resist.  And  it  prolonged  an  interview  that 
a  ruthless  revelation  of  the  truth  might  have 
shortened. 

"  She  did  not  tell  me  she  was  going 
there,"  she  replied  still  evasively ;  "  and,  in 
deed,"  she  added,  with  a  burst  of  candor 


286  THREE  PARTNERS. 

still  more  dangerous,  "I  only  learned  it 
from  the  hotel  clerk  after  she  was  gone. 
But  I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  her  relations 
to  Van  Loo,"  she  said,  with  a  return  of  her 
former  intensity  of  gaze,  "  and  I  thought  we 
would  be  less  subject  to  interruption  here 
than  at  the  hotel.  Only  I  suppose  every 
body  knows  this  place,  and  any  of  those 
flirting  couples  are  likely  to  come  here.  Be 
sides,"  she  added,  with  a  little  half-hysterical 
laugh  and  a  slight  shiver,  as  she  looked  up 
at  the  high  interlacing  boughs  above  her 
head,  "  it 's  as  public  as  the  aisles  of  a 
church,  and  really  one  feels  as  if  one  were 
'  speaking  out '  in  meeting.  Is  n't  there 
some  other  spot  a  little  more  secluded,  where 
we  could  sit  down,"  she  went  on,  as  she 
poked  her  parasol  into  the  usual  black  gun- 
powdery  deposit  of  earth  which  mingled 
with  the  carpet  of  pine-needles  beneath  her 
feet,  "  and  not  get  all  sticky  and  dirty  ?  " 

Barker's  eyes  sparkled.  "  I  know  every 
foot  of  this  hill,  Mrs.  Horncastle,"  he  said, 
"  and  if  you  will  follow  me  I  '11  take  you  to 
one  of  the  loveliest  nooks  you  ever  dreamed 
of.  It 's  an  old  Indian  spring  now  for 
gotten,  and  I  think  known  only  to  me  and 


THREE  PARTNERS.  287 

the  birds.  It 's  not  more  than  ten  minutes 
from  here ;  only "  —  he  hesitated  as  he 
caught  sight  of  the  smart  French  bronze 
buckled  shoe  and  silken  ankle  which  Mrs. 
Horncastle's  gathering  up  of  her  dainty 
skirts  around  her  had  disclosed  —  "  it  may 
be  a  little  rough  and  dusty  going  to  your 
feet." 

But  Mrs.  Horncastle  pointed  out  that  she 
had  already  irretrievably  ruined  her  shoes 
and  stockings  in  climbing  up  to  him,  —  al 
though  Barker  could  really  distinguish  no 
diminution  of  their  freshness,  —  and  that 
she  might  as  well  go  on.  Whereat  they 
both  passed  down  the  long  aisle  of  slope  to 
a  little  hollow  of  manzanita,  which  again 
opened  to  a  view  of  Black  Spur,  but  left  the 
hotel  hidden. 

"  What  time  did  Kitty  go  ? "  began 
Barker  eagerly,  when  they  were  half  down 
the  slope. 

But  here  Mrs.  Horncastle's  foot  slipped 
upon  the  glassy  pine-needles,  and  not  only 
stopped  an  answer,  but  obliged  Barker  to 
give  all  his  attention  to  keep  his  companion 
from  falling  again  until  they  reached  the 
open.  Then  came  the  plunge  through  the 


288  THREE  PARTNERS. 

man/an ita  thicket,  then  a  cool  wade  through 
waist-deep  ferns,  and  then  they  emerged, 
holding  each  other's  hand,  breathless  and 
panting  before  the  spring. 

It  did  not  belie  his  enthusiastic  descrip 
tion.  A  triangular  hollow,  niched  in  a  shelf 
of  the  mountain-side,  narrowed  to  a  point 
from  which  the  overflow  of  the  spring  per 
colated  through  a  fringe  of  alder,  to  fall  in 
what  seemed  from  the  valley  to  be  a  green 
furrow  down  the  whole  length  of  the  moun 
tain-side.  Overhung  by  pines  above,  which 
met  and  mingled  with  the  willows  that 
everywhere  fringed  it,  it  made  the  one  cool 
ing  shade  in  the  whole  basking  expanse 
of  the  mountain,  and  yet  was  penetrated 
throughout  by  the  intoxicating  spice  of  the 
heated  pines.  Flowering  reeds  and  long 
lush  grasses  drew  a  magic  circle  round  an 
open  bowl-like  pool  in  the  centre,  that  was 
always  replenished  to  the  slow  murmur  of 
an  unseen  rivulet  that  trickled  from  a  white- 
quartz  cavern  in  the  mountain-side  like  a 
vein  opened  in  its  flank.  Shadows  of  timid 
wings  crossed  it,  quick  rustlings  disturbed 
the  reeds,  but  nothing  more.  It  was  silent, 
but  breathing ;  it  was  hidden  to  everything 
but  the  sky  and  the  illimitable  distance. 


THESE  PARTNEES.  289 

They  threaded  their  way  around  it  on  the 
spongy  carpet,  covered  by  delicate  lace-like 
vines  that  seemed  to  caress  rather  than 
trammel  their  moving  feet,  until  they  reached 
an  open  space  before  the  pool.  It  was  cush 
ioned  and  matted  with  disintegrated  pine 
bark,  and  here  they  sat  down.  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle  furled  her  parasol  and  laid  it  aside  ; 
raised  both  hands  to  the  back  of  her  head 
and  took  two  hat-pins  out,  which  she  placed 
in  her  smiling  mouth ;  removed  her  hat, 
stuck  the  hat-pins  in  it,  and  handed  it  to 
Barker,  who  gently  placed  it  on  the  top  of 
a  tall  reed,  where  during  the  rest  of  that 
momentous  meeting  it  swung  and  drooped 
like  a  flower;  removed  her  gloves  slowly; 
drank  still  smilingly  and  gratefully  nearly 
a  wineglassful  of  the  water  which  Barker 
brought  her  in  the  green  twisted  chalice  of 
a  lily  leaf ;  looked  the  picture  of  happiness, 
and  then  burst  into  tears. 

Barker  was  astounded,  dismayed,  even 
terror-stricken.  Mrs.  Horncastle  crying! 
Mrs.  Horncastle,  the  imperious,  the  col 
lected,  the  coldly  critical,  the  cynical,  smiling 
woman  of  the  world,  actually  crying !  Other 
women  might  cry  —  Kitty  had  cried  often  — 


290  THREE  PARTNERS. 

but  Mrs.  Horncastle !  Yet,  there  she  was, 
sobbing ;  actually  sobbing  like  a  schoolgirl, 
her  beautiful  shoulders  rising  and  falling 
with  her  grief ;  crying  unmistakably  through 
her  long  white  fingers,  through  a  lace  pocket- 
handkerchief  which  she  had  hurriedly  pro 
duced  and  shaken  from  behind  her  like  a 
conjurer's  trick ;  her  beautiful  eyes  a  thou 
sand  times  more  lustrous  for  the  sparkling 
beads  that  brimmed  her  lashes  and  welled 
over  like  the  pool  before  her. 

"  Don't  mind  me,"  she  murmured  behind 
her  handkerchief.  "It's  very  foolish,  I 
know.  I  was  nervous  —  worried,  I  suppose ; 
I  '11  be  better  in  a  moment.  Don't  notice 
me,  please." 

But  Barker  had  drawn  beside  her  and  was 
trying,  after  the  fashion  of  his  sex,  to  take 
her  handkerchief  away  in  apparently  the 
firm  belief  that  this  action  would  stop  her 
tears.  "  But  tell  me  what  it  is.  Do  Mrs. 
Horncastle,  please,"  he  pleaded  in  his  boy 
ish  fashion.  "Is  it  anything  I  can  do? 
Only  say  the  word ;  only  tell  me  some 
thing!'' 

But  he  had  succeeded  in  partially  remov 
ing  the  handkerchief,  and  so  caught  a  glimpse 


THREE  PARTNERS.  291 

of  her  wet  eyes,  in  which  a  faint  smile 
struggled  out  like  sunshine  through  rain. 
But  they  clouded  again,  although  she  did  n't 
cry,  and  her  breath  came  and  went  with  the 
action  of  a  sob,  and  her  hands  still  remained 
against  her  flushed  face. 

"  I  was  only  going  to  talk  to  you  of 
Kitty  "  (sob)  —  "  but  I  suppose  I  'm  weak  " 
(sob)  —  "  and  such  a  fool  "  (sob)  "  and  I 
got  to  thinking  of  myself  and  my  own  sor 
rows  when  I  ought  to  be  thinking  only  of 
you  and  Kitty." 

"  Never  mind  Kitty,"  said  Barker  impul 
sively.  "  Tell  me  about  yourself  —  your 
own  sorrows.  I  am  a  brute  to  have  both 
ered  you  about  her  at  such  a  moment ;  and 
now  until  you  have  told  me  what  is  paining 
you  so  I  shall  not  let  you  speak  of  her." 
He  was  perfectly  sincere.  What  were 
Kitty's  possible  and  easy  tears  over  the  loss 
of  her  money  to  the  unknown  agony  that 
could  wrench  a  sob  from  a  woman  like  this  ? 
"  Dear  Mrs.  Horncastle,"  he  went  on  as 
breathlessly,  "think  of  me  now  not  as 
Kitty's  husband,  but  as  your  true  friend. 
Yes,  as  your  best  and  truest  friend,  and 
speak  to  me  as  you  would  speak  to  him." 


292  THEEE  PARTNERS. 

"You  will  be  my  friend ?  "  she  said  sud 
denly  and  passionately,  grasping  his  hand, 
"  my  best  and  truest  friend  ?  and  if  I  tell 
you  all,  —  everything,  you  will  not  cast  me 
from  you  and  hate  me  ?  " 

Barker  felt  the  same  thrill  from  her  warm 
hand  slowly  possess  his  whole  being  as  it 
had  the  evening  before,  but  this  time  he  was 
prepared  and  answered  the  grasp  and  her 
eyes  together  as  he  said  breathlessly,  "  I  will 
be  —  I  am  your  friend." 

She  withdrew  her  hand  and  passed  it  over 
her  eyes.  After  a  moment  she  caught  his 
hand  again,  and,  holding  it  tightly  as  if  she 
feared  he  might  fly  from  her,  bit  her  lip, 
and  then  slowly,  without  looking  at  him, 
said,  "  I  lied  to  you  about  myself  and  Kitty 
that  night ;  I  did  not  come  with  her.  I 
came  alone  and  secretly  to  Boomville  to  see 
—  to  see  the  man  who  is  my  husband." 

"  Your  husband!  "  said  Barker  in  surprise. 
He  had  believed,  with  the  rest  of  the  world, 
that  there  had  been  no  communication  be 
tween  them  for  years.  Yet  so  intense  was 
his  interest  in  her  that  he  did  not  notice 
that  this  revelation  was  leaving  now  no  ex 
cuse  for  his  wife's  presence  at  Boomville. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  293 

Mrs.  Horncastle  went  on  with  dogged  bit 
terness,  "  Yes,  my  husband.  I  went  to  him 
to  beg  and  bribe  him  to  let  me  see  my  child. 
Yes,  my  child,"  she  said  frantically,  tighten 
ing  her  hold  upon  his  hand,  "  for  I  lied  to 
you  when  I  once  told  you  I  had  none.  I 
had  a  child,  and,  more  than  that,  a  child 
who  at  his  birth  I  did  not  dare  to  openly 
claim." 

She  stopped  breathlessly,  stared  at  his 
face  with  her  former  intensity  as  if  she  would 
pluck  the  thought  that  followed  from  his 
brain.  But  he  only  moved  closer  to  her, 
passed  his  arm  over  her  shoulders  with  a 
movement  so  natural  and  protecting  that  it 
had  a  certain  dignity  in  it,  and,  looking 
down  upon  her  bent  head  with  eyes  brim 
ming  with  sympathy,  whispered,  "  Poor, 
poor  child  !  " 

Whereat  Mrs.  Horncastle  again  burst  into 
tears.  And  then,  with  her  head  half  drawn 
towards  his  shoulder,  she  told  him  all,  —  all 
that  had  passed  between  her  and  her  husband, 
—  even  all  that  they  had  then  but  hinted  at. 
It  was  as  if  she  felt  she  could  now,  for  the 
first  time,  voice  all  these  terrible  memories 
of  the  past  which  had  come  back  to  her  last 


294  THREE  PAETNEES. 

night  when  her  husband  had  left  her.  She 
concealed  nothing,  she  veiled  nothing  ;  there 
were  intervals  when  her  tears  no  longer 
flowed,  and  a  cruel  hardness  and  return  of 
her  old  imperiousness  of  voice  and  manner 
took  their  place,  as  if  she  was  doing  a  rigid 
penance  and  took  a  bitter  satisfaction  in  lay 
ing  bare  her  whole  soul  to  him.  "  I  never 
had  a  friend,"  she  whispered  ;  "there  were 
women  who  persecuted  me  with  their  jealous 
sneers  ;  there  were  men  who  persecuted  me 
with  their  selfish  affections.  When  I  first 
saw  you,  you  seemed  something  so  apart  and 
different  from  all  other  men  that,  although  I 
scarcely  knew  you,  I  wanted  to  tell  you,  even 
then,  all  that  I  have  told  you  now.  I  wanted 
you  to  be  my  friend ;  something  told  me  that 
you  could,  —  that  you  could  separate  me 
from  my  past ;  that  you  could  tell  me  what 
to  do ;  that  you  could  make  me  think  as  you 
thought,  see  life  as  you  saw  it,  and  trust 
always  to  some  goodness  in  people  as  you 
did.  And  in  this  faith  I  thought  that  you 
would  understand  me  now,  and  even  forgive 
me  all." 

She  made  a  slight  movement  as  if  to  dis 
engage  his  arm,  and,  possibly,  to  look  into 


THREE  PARTNERS.  295 

his  eyes,  which  she  knew  instinctively  were 
bent  upon  her  downcast  head.  But  he  only 
held  her  the  more  tightly  until  her  cheek 
was  close  against  his  breast.  "  What  could 
I  do?"  she  murmured.  "A  man  in  sorrow 
and  trouble  may  go  to  a  woman  for  sympathy 
and  support  and  the  world  will  not  gainsay 
or  misunderstand  him.  But  a  woman  — 
weaker,  more  helpless,  credulous,  ignorant, 
and  craving  for  light  —  must  not  in  her 
agony  go  to  a  man  for  succor  and  sym 
pathy." 

"  Why  should  she  not  ?  "  burst  out  Barker 
passionately,  releasing  her  in  his  attempt  to 
gaze  into  her  face.  "  What  man  dare  refuse 
her?" 

"  Not  that"  she  said  slowly,  but  with  still 
averted  eyes,  "  but  because  the  world  would 
say  she  loved  him." 

"  And  what  should  she  care  for  the  opin 
ion  of  a  world  that  stands  aside  and  lets  her 
suffer  ?  Why  should  she  heed  its  wretched' 
babble  ? "  he  went  on  in  flashing  indigna 
tion. 

"Because,"  she  said  faintly,  lifting  her 
moist  eyes  and  moist  and  parted  lips  towards 
him,  —  "  because  it  would  be  true  !  " 


296  THREE  PARTNERS. 

There  was  a  silence  so  profound  that  even 
the  spring  seemed  to  withhold  its  song  as 
their  eyes  and  lips  met.  When  the  spring 
recommenced  its  murmur,  and  they  could 
hear  the  droning  of  a  bee  above  them  and 
the  rustling  of  the  reed,  she  was  murmuring, 
too,  with  her  face  against  his  breast :  "  You 
did  not  think  it  strange  that  I  should  follow 
you  —  that  I  should  risk  everything  to  tell 
you  what  I  have  told  you  before  I  told  you 
anything  else  ?  You  will  never  hate  me  for 
it,  George  ?  " 

There  was  another  silence  still  more  pro 
longed,  and  when  he  looked  again  into  the 
flushed  face  and  glistening  eyes  he  was  say 
ing,  "  I  have  always  loved  you.  I  know 
now  I  loved  you  from  the  first,  from  the 
day  when  I  leaned  over  you  to  take  little 
Sta  from  your  lap  and  saw  your  tenderness 
for  him  in  your  eyes.  I  could  have  kissed 
you  then,  dearest,  as  I  do  now." 

"  And,"  she  said,  when  she  had  gained 
her  smiling  breath  again,  "  you  will  always 
remember,  George,  that  you  told  me  this 
before  I  told  you  anything  of  her." 

'•'•Her?  Of  whom,  dearest?"  he  asked, 
leaning  over  her  tenderly. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  297 

"Of  Kitty — of  your  wife,"  she  said  im 
patiently,  as  she  drew  back  shyly  with  her 
former  intense  gaze. 

He  did  not  seem  to  grasp  her  meaning, 
but  said  gravely,  "Let  us  not  talk  of  her 
now.  Later  we  shall  have  much  to  say  of 
her.  For,"  he  added  quietly,  "  you  know  I 
must  tell  her  all." 

The  color  faded  from  her  cheek.  "  Tell 
her  all !  "  she  repeated  vacantly  ;  then  sud 
denly  she  turned  upon  him  eagerly,  and 
said,  "  But  what  if  she  is  gone  ?  " 

"  Gone  ?  "  he  repeated. 

"  Yes  ;  gone.  What  if  she  has  run  away 
with  Van  Loo  ?  What  if  she  has  disgraced 
you  and  her  child  ?  " 

"What  do  you  mean?"  he  said,  seizing 
both  her  hands  and  gazing  at  her  fixedly. 

"  I  mean,"  she  said,  with  a  half -frightened 
eagerness,  "  that  she  has  already  gone  with 
Van  Loo.  George !  George !  "  she  burst  out 
suddenly  and  passionately,  falling  upon  her 
knees  before  him,  "  do  you  think  that  I 
would  have  followed  you  here  and  told  you 
what  I  did  if  I  thought  that  she  had  now 
the  slightest  claim  upon  your  love  or  honor? 
Don't  you  understand  me?  I  came  to  tell 


298  THREE  PARTNERS. 

you  of  her  flight  to  Boomville  with  that 
man ;  how  I  accidentally  intercepted  them 
there ;  how  I  tried  to  save  her  from  him, 
and  even  lied  to  you  to  try  to  save  her  from 
your  indignation  ;  but  how  she  deceived  me 
as  she  has  you,  and  even  escaped  and  joined 
her  lover  while  you  were  with  me.  I  came 
to  tell  you  that  and  nothing  more,  George,  I 
swear  it.  But  when  you  were  kind  to  me 
and  pitied  me,  I  was  mad  —  wild !  I  wanted 
to  win  you  first  out  of  your  own  love.  I 
wanted  you  to  respond  to  mine  before  you 
knew  your  wife  was  faithless.  Yet  I  would 
have  saved  her  if  I  could.  Listen,  George ! 
A  moment  more  before  you  speak  !  " 

Then  she  hurriedly  told  him  all ;  the 
whole  story  of  his  wife's  dishonor,  from  her 
entrance  into  the  sitting-room  with  Van  Loo, 
her  later  appeal  for  concealment  from  her 
husband's  unexpected  presence,  to  the  use 
she  made  of  that  concealment  to  fly  with 
her  lover.  She  spared  no  detail,  and  even 
repeated  the  insult  Mrs.  Barker  had  cast 
upon  her  with  the  triumphant  reproach  that 
her  husband  would  not  believe  her.  "  Per 
haps,"  she  added  bitterly,  "you  may  not 
believe  me  now.  I  could  even  stand  that 


THREE  PAETNERS.  299 

from  you,  George,  if  it  could  make  you  hap 
pier  ;  but  you  would  still  have  to  believe  it 
from  others.  The  people  at  the  Boomville 
Hotel  saw  them  leave  it  together." 

"  I  do  believe  you,"  he  said  slowly,  but 
with  downcast  eyes,  "  and  if  I  did  not  love 
you  before  you  told  me  this  I  could  love  you 
now  for  the  part  you  have  taken ;  but " 
He  stopped. 

"  You  love  her  still,"  she  burst  out,  "  and 
I  might  have  known  it.  Perhaps,"  she  went 
on  distractedly,  "you  love  her  the  more 
that  you  have  lost  her.  It  is  the  way  of 
men  —  and  women." 

"  If  I  had  loved  her  truly,"  said  Barker, 
lifting  his  frank  eyes  to  hers,  "  I  could  not 
have  touched  your  lips.  I  could  not  even 
have  wished  to  —  as  I  did  three  years  ago 
—  as  I  did  last  night.  Then  I  feared  it  was 
my  weakness,  now  I  know  it  was  my  love. 
I  have  thought  of  it  ever  since,  even  while , 
waiting  my  wife's  return  here,  knowing  that 
I  did  not  and  never  could  have  loved  her. 
But  for  that  very  reason  I  must  try  to  save 
her  for  her  own  sake,  if  I  cannot  save  her 
for  mine;  and  if  I  fail,  dearest,  it  shall  not 
be  said  that  we  climbed  to  happiness  over 


300  THREE  PARTNERS. 

her  back  bent  with  the  burden  of  her  shame. 
If  I  loved  you  and  told  you  so,  thinking  her 
still  guiltless  and  innocent,  how  could  I 
profit  now  by  her  fault  ?  " 

Mrs.  Horncastle  saw  too  late  her  mistake. 
"  Then  you  would  take  her  back  ?  "  she  said 
frenziedly. 

"  To  my  home  —  which  is  hers  —  yes. 
To  my  heart  —  no.  She  never  was  there." 

"  And  /,  "  said  Mrs.  Horncastle,  with  a 
quivering  lip,  —  "  where  do  I  go  when  you 
have  settled  this  ?  Back  to  my  past  again  ? 
Back  to  my  husbandless,  childless  life  ?  " 

She  was  turning  away,  but  Barker  caught 
her  in  his  arms  again.  "  No !  "  he  said,  his 
whole  face  suddenly  radiating  with  hope  and 
youthful  enthusiasm.  "  No !  Kitty  will  help 
us ;  we  will  tell  her  all.  You  do  not  know 
her,  dearest,  as  I  do  —  how  good  and  kind 
she  is,  in  spite  of  all.  We  will  appeal  to 
her ;  she  will  devise  some  means  by  which, 
without  the  scandal  of  a  divorce,  she  and  I 
may  be  separated.  She  will  take  dear  little 
Sta  with  her  —  it  is  only  right,  poor  girl ; 
but  she  will  let  me  come  and  see  him.  She 
will  be  a  sister  to  us,  dearest.  Courage ! 
All  will  come  right  yet.  Trust  to  me." 


THREE  PARTNERS.  301 

An  hysterical  laugh  came  to  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle's  lips  and  then  stopped.  For  as  she 
looked  up  at  him  in  his  supreme  hopefulness, 
his  divine  confidence  in  himself  and  others 
—  at  his  handsome  face  beaming  with  love 
and  happiness,  and  his  clear  gray  eyes  glit 
tering  with  an  almost  spiritual  prescience 
—  she,  woman  of  the  world  and  bitter  expe 
rience,  and  perfectly  cognizant  of  her  own 
and  Kitty's  possibilities,  was,  nevertheless, 
completely  carried  away  by  her  lover's  op 
timism.  For  of  all  optimism  that  of  love 
is  the  most  convincing.  Dear  boy  !  —  for 
he  was  but  a  boy  in  experience  —  only  his 
love  for  her  could  work  this  magic.  So  she 
gave  him  kiss  for  kiss,  largely  believing, 
largely  hoping,  that  Mrs.  Barker  was  in  love 
with  Van  Loo  and  would  not  return.  And 
in  this  hope  an  invincible  belief  in  the  folly 
of  her  own  sex  soothed  and  sustained  her. 

"  We  must  go  now,  dearest,"  said  Barker, 
pointing  to  the  sun  already  near  the  meri 
dian.  Three  hours  had  fled,  they  knew  not 
how.  "  I  will  bring  you  back  to  the  hill 
again,  but  there  we  had  better  separate,  you 
taking  your  way  alone  to  the  hotel  as  you 
came,  and  I  will  go  a  little  way  on  the  road 


302  THREE  PAETNEES. 

to  the  Divide  and  return  later.  Keep  your 
own  counsel  about  Kitty  for  her  sake  and 
ours  ;  perhaps  no  one  else  may  know  the 
truth  yet."  With  a  farewell  kiss  they 
plunged  again  hand  in  hand  through  the  cool 
bracken  and  again  through  the  hot  manza- 
nita  bushes,  and  so  parted  on  the  hilltop,  as 
they  had  never  parted  before,  leaving  their 
whole  world  behind  them. 

Barker  walked  slowly  along  the  road  un 
der  the  flickering  shade  of  wayside  sycamore, 
his  sensitive  face  also  alternating  with  his 
thought  in  lights  and  shadows.  Presently 
there  crept  towards  him  out  of  the  distance 
a  halting,  vacillating,  deviating  buggy,  trail 
ing  a  cloud  of  dust  after  it  like  a  broken 
wing.  As  it  came  nearer  he  could  see  that 
the  horse  was  spent  and  exhausted,  and  that 
the  buggy's  sole  occupant  —  a  woman  — 
was  equally  exhausted  in  her  monotonous 
attempt  to  urge  it  forward  with  whip  and 
reins  that  rose  and  fell  at  intervals  with 
feeble  reiteration.  Then  he  stepped  out  of 
the  shadow  and  stood  in  the  middle  of  the 
sunlit  road  to  await  it.  For  he  recognized 
his  wife. 

The  buggy  came  nearer.     And  then  the 


THREE  PARTNERS.  303 

most  exquisite  pang  he  had  ever  felt  before 
at  his  wife's  hands  shot  through  him.  For 
as  she  recognized  him  she  made  a  wild  but 
impotent  attempt  to  dash  past  him,  and  then 
as  suddenly  pulled  up  in  the  ditch. 

He  went  up  to  her.  She  was  dirty,  she 
was  disheveled,  she  was  haggard,  she  was 
plain.  There  were  rings  of  dust  round  her 
tear-swept  eyes  and  smudges  of  dust-dried 
perspiration  over  her  fair  cheek.  He  thought 
of  the  beauty,  freshness,  and  elegance  of  the 
woman  he  had  just  left,  and  an  infinite  pity 
swept,  the  soul  of  this  weak-minded  gentle 
man.  He  ran  towards  her,  and  tenderly 
lifting  her  in  her  shame-stained  garments 
from  the  buggy,  said  hurriedly,  "  I  know  it 
all,  poor  Kitty  !  You  heard  the  news  of 
Van  Loo's  flight,  and  you  ran  over  to  the 
Divide  to  try  and  save  some  of  your  money. 
Why  did  n't  you  wait  ?  Why  did  n't  you 
tell  me?" 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  reality  of  his 
words,  the  genuine  pity  and  tenderness  of 
his  action  ;  but  the  woman  saw  before  her 
only  the  familiar  dupe  of  her  life,  and  felt 
an  infinite  relief  mingled  with  a  certain  con 
tempt  for  his  weakness  and  anger  at  her  pre 
vious  fears  of  him. 


304  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  You  might  have  driven  over,  then,  your 
self,"  she  said  in  a  high,  querulous  voice, 
"  if  you  knew  it  so  well,  and  have  spared  me 
this  horrid,  dirty,  filthy,  hopeless  expedition, 
for  I  have  not  saved  anything  —  there !  And 
I  have  had  all  this  disgusting  bother  !  " 

For  an  instant  he  was  sorely  tempted  to 
lift  his  eyes  to  her  face,  but  he  checked  him 
self  ;  then  he  gently  took  her  dust-coat  from 
her  shoidders  and  shook  it  out,  wiped  the 
dust  from  her  face  and  eyes  with  his  own 
handkerchief,  held  her  hat  and  blew  the  dust 
from  it  with  a  vivid  memory  of  performing 
the  same  service  for  Mrs.  Horncastle  only 
an  hour  before,  while  she  arranged  her  hair ; 
and  then,  lifting  her  again  into  the  buggy, 
said  quietly,  as  he  took  his  seat  beside  her 
and  grasped  the  reins :  — 

"  I  will  drive  you  to  the  hotel  by  way  of 
the  stables,  and  you  can  go  at  once  to  your 
room  and  change  your  clothes.  You  are 
tired,  you  are  nervous  and  worried,  and  want 
rest.  Don't  tell  me  anything  now  until  you 
feel  quite  yourself  again." 

He  whipped  up  the  horse,  who,  recogniz 
ing  another  hand  at  the  reins,  lunged  for 
ward  in  a  final  effort,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
they  were  at  the  hotel. 


THREE  PARTNERS.  305 

As  Mrs.  Horncastle  sat  at  luncheon  in 
the  great  dining-room,  a  little  pale  and  ab 
stracted,  she  saw  Mrs.  Barker  sweep  confi 
dently  into  the  room,  fresh,  rosy,  and  in  a 
new  and  ravishing  toilette.  With  a  swift 
glance  of  conscious  power  towards  the  other 
guests  she  %  walked  towards  Mrs.  Horn- 
castle.  "  Ah,  here  you  are,  dear,"  she  said 
in  a  voice  that  could  easily  reach  all  ears, 
"  and  you  've  arrived  only  a  little  before 
me,  after  all.  And  I  've  had  such  an  awful 
drive  to  the  Divide !  And  only  think ! 
poor  George  telegraphed  to  me  at  Boomville 
not  to  worry,  and  his  dispatch  has  only  just 
come  back  here." 

And  with  a  glance  of  complacency  she 
laid  Barker's  gentle  and  forgiving  dispatch 
before  the  astonished  Mrs.  Horncastle. 


CHAPTER  VIH. 

As  the  day  advanced  the  excitement  over 
the  financial  crisis  increased  at  Hymettus, 
until,  in  spite  of  its  remote  and  peaceful  iso 
lation,  it  seemed  to  throb  through  all  its 
verandas  and  corridors  with  some  pulsation 
from  the  outer  world.  Besides  the  letters 
and  dispatches  brought  by  hurried  mes 
sengers  and  by  coach  from  the  Divide, 
there  was  a  crowd  of  guests  and  servants 
around  the  branch  telegraph  at  the  new 
Heavy  Tree  post-office  which  was  constantly 
augmenting.  Added  to  the  natural  anxiety 
of  the  deeply  interested  was  the  stimulated 
fever  of  the  few  who  wished  to  be  "  in  the 
fashion."  It  was  early  rumored  that  a 
heavy  operator,  a  guest  of  the  hotel,  who 
was  also  a  director  in  the  telegraph  com 
pany,  had  bought  up  the  wires  for  his  sole 
use,  that  the  dispatches  were  doctored  in  his 
interests  as  a  "  bear,"  and  there  was  wild 
talk  of  lynching  by  the  indignant  mob.  Pas- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  307 

sengers  from  Sacramento,  San  Francisco, 
and  Marysville  brought  incredible  news  and 
the  wildest  sensations.  Firm  after  firm  had 
failed  in  the  great  cities.  Old  established 
houses  that  dated  back  to  the  "  spring  of 
'49,"  and  had  weathered  the  fires  and  inun 
dations  of  their  perilous  Calif ornian  infancy, 
collapsed  before  this  mysterious,  invisible, 
impalpable  breath  of  panic.  Companies 
rooted  in  respectability  and  sneered  at  for 
old-fashioned  ways  were  discovered  to  have 
shamelessly  speculated  with  trusts !  An 
eminent  deacon  and  pillar  of  the  church  was 
found  dead  in  his  room  with  a  bullet  in  his 
heart  and  a  damning  confession  on  the  desk 
before  him !  Foreign  bankers  were  sending 
their  gold  out  of  the  country  ;  government 
would  be  appealed  to  to  open  the  vaults  of 
the  Mint ;  there  would  be  an  embargo  on 
all  bullion  shipment !  Nothing  was  too 
wild  or  preposterous  to  be  repeated  or  cre 
dited. 

And  with  this  fever  of  sordid  passion  the 
summer  temperature  had  increased.  For 
the  last  two  weeks  the  thermometer  had 
stood  abnormally  high  during  the  day-long 
sunshine  ;  and  the  metallic  dust  in  the  roads 


308  THREE  PARTNERS. 

over  mineral  ranges  pricked  the  skin  like 
red-hot  needles.  In  the  deepest  woods  the 
aromatic  sap  stood  in  beads  on  felled  logs 
and  splintered  tree-shafts  ;  even  the  moun 
tain  night  breeze  failed  to  cool  these  baked 
and  heated  fastnesses.  There  were  ominous 
clouds  of  smoke  by  day  that  were  pillars 
of  fire  by  night  along  the  distant  valleys. 
Some  of  the  nearer  crests  were  etched 
against  the  midnight  sky  by  dull  red  creep 
ing  lines  like  a  dying  firework.  The  great 
hotel  itself  creaked  and  crackled  and  warped 
through  all  its  painted,  blistered,  and  ve 
neered  expanse,  and  was  filled  with  the  sti 
fling  breath  of  desiccation.  The  stucco 
cracked  and  crumbled  away  from  the  cor 
nices  ;  there  were  yawning  gaps  in  the 
boarded  floors  beneath  the  Turkey  carpets. 
Plate-glass  windows  became  hopelessly  fixed 
in  their  warped  and  twisted  sashes,  and 
added  to  the  heat ;  there  was  a  warm  in 
cense  of  pine  sap  in  the  dining-room  that 
flavored  all  the  cuisine.  And  yet  the  bab 
ble  of  stocks  and  shares  went  on,  and  peo 
ple  pricked  their  ears  over  their  soup  to 
catch  the  gossip  of  the  last  arrival. 

Demorest,  loathing  it  all  in  his  new-found 


THREE  PARTNERS.  309 

bitterness,  was  nevertheless  impatient  in  his 
inaction,  and  was  eagerly  awaiting  a  tele 
gram  from  Stacy  ;  Barker  had  disappeared 
since  luncheon.  Suddenly  there  was  a  com 
motion  on  the  veranda  as  a  carriage  drove 
up  with  a  handsome,  gray-haired  woman. 
In  the  buzzing  of  voices  around  him  Demo- 
rest  heard  the  name  of  Mrs.  Van  Loo.  In 
further  comments,  made  in  more  smothered 
accents,  he  heard  that  Van  Loo  had  been 
stopped  at  Canon  Station,  but  that  no  war 
rant  had  yet  been  issued  against  him  ;  that 
it  was  generally  believed  that  the  bank 
dared  not  hold  him ;  that  others  openly 
averred  that  he  had  been  used  as  a  scape 
goat  to  avert  suspicion  from  higher  guilt. 
And  certainly  Mrs.  Van  Loo's  calm,  confi 
dent  air  seemed  to  corroborate  these  asser 
tions. 

He  was  still  wondering  if  the  strange 
coincidence  which  had  brought  both  mother 
and  son  into  his  own  life  was  not  merely  a 
fancy,  as  far  as  she  was  concerned,  when  a 
waiter  brought  a  message  from  Mrs.  Van 
Loo  that  she  would  be  glad  to  see  him  for 
a  few  moments  in  her  room.  Last  night  he 
could  scarcely  have  restrained  his  eagerness 


310  THREE  PARTNERS. 

to  meet  her  and  elucidate  the  mystery  of 
the  photograph ;  now  he  was  conscious  of  an 
equally  strong  revulsion  of  feeling,  and  a 
dull  premonition  of  evil.  However,  it  was 
no  doubt  possible  that  the  man  had  told  her 
of  his  previous  inquiries,  and  she  had  merely 
acknowledged  them  by  that  message. 

Demorest  found  Mrs.  Van  Loo  in  the 
private  sitting-room  where  he  and  his  old 
partners  had  supped  on  the  preceding  night. 
She  received  him  with  unmistakable  courtesy 
and  even  a  certain  dignity  that  might  or 
might  not  have  been  assumed.  He  had  no 
difficulty  in  recognizing  the  son's  mechanical 
politeness  in  the  first,  but  he  was  puzzled  at 
the  second. 

"  The  manager  of  this  hotel,"  she  began, 
with  a  foreigner's  precision  of  English,  "  has 
just  told  me  that  you  were  at  present  occupy 
ing  my  rooms  at  his  invitation,  but  that  you 
wished  to  see  me  at  once  on  my  return,  and 
I  believe  that  I  was  not  wrong  in  apprehend 
ing  that  you  preferred  to  hear  my  wishes 
from  my  own  lips  rather  than  from  an  inn 
keeper.  I  had  intended  to  keep  these  rooms 
for  some  weeks,  but,  unfortunately  for  me, 
though  fortunately  for  you,  the  present 


THREE  PAETNEES.  311 

terrible  financial  crisis,  which  has  most  un 
justly  brought  my  son  into  such  scandalous 
prominence,  will  oblige  me  to  return  to  San 
Francisco  until  his  reputation  is  fully  cleared 
of  these  foul  aspersions.  I  shall  only  ask 
you  to  allow  me  the  undisturbed  possession 
of  these  rooms  for  a  couple  of  hours  until  I 
can  pack  my  trunks  and  gather  up  a  few 
souvenirs  that  I  almost  always  keep  with 
me." 

"  Pray,  consider  that  your  wishes  are  my 
own  in  respect  to  that,  my  dear  madam," 
returned  Demorest  gravely,  "  and  that,  in 
deed,  I  protested  against  even  this  temporary 
intrusion  upon  your  apartments  ;  but  I  con 
fess  that  now  that  you  have  spoken  of  your 
souvenirs  I  have  the  greatest  curiosity  about 
one  of  them,  and  that  even  my  object  in 
seeking  this  interview  was  to  gratify  it.  It 
is  in  regard  to  a  photograph  which  I  saw 
on  the  chimney-piece  in  your  bedroom,  which 
I  think  I  recognized  as  that  of  some  one 
whom  I  formerly  knew." 

There  was  a  sudden  look  of  sharp  sus 
picion  and  even  hard  aggressiveness  that 
quite  changed  the  lady's  face  as  he  men 
tioned  the  word  "  souvenir,"  but  it  quickly 


312  THREE  PARTNERS. 

changed  to  a  smile  as  she  put  up  her  fan 
with  a  gesture  of  arch  deprecation,  and  said  : 

"  Ah  !  I  see.  Of  course,  a  lady's  photo 
graph." 

The  reply  irritated  Demorest.  More  than 
that,  he  felt  a  sudden  sense  of  the  absolute 
sentimentality  of  his  request,  and  the  con 
sciousness  that  he  was  about  to  invite  the 
familiar  confidence  of  this  strange  woman  — 
whose  son  had  forged  his  name  —  in  regard 
to  her! 

"  It  was  a  Venetian  picture,"  he  began, 
and  stopped,  a  singular  disgust  keeping  him 
from  voicing  the  name. 

But  Mrs.  Van  Loo  was  less  reticent. 
"  Oh,  you  mean  my  dearest  friend  —  a  lovely 
picture,  and  you  know  her?  Why,  yes, 
surely.  You  are  the  Mr.  Demorest  who  — 
Of  course,  that  old  love-affair.  Well,  you 
are  a  marvel !  Five  years  ago,  at  least,  and 
you  have  not  forgotten !  I  really  must  write 
and  tell  her." 

"  Write  and  tell  her  !  "  Then  it  was  all 
a  lie  about  her  death  !  He  felt  not  only  his 
faith,  his  hope,  his  future  leaving  him,  but 
even  his  self-control.  With  an  effort  he 
said:  — 


TUEEE  rARTNEES.  313 

"  I  think  you  have  already  satisfied  my 
curiosity.  I  was  told  five  years  ago  that  she 
was  dead.  It  was  because  of  the  date  of 
the  photograph  —  two  years  later  —  that  I 
ventured  to  intrude  upon  you.  I  was  anx 
ious  only  to  know  the  truth." 

"  She  certainly  was  very  much  living  and 
of  the  world  when  I  saw  her  last,  two  years 
ago,"  said  Mrs.  Van  Loo,  with  an  easy  smile. 
"  I  dare  say  that  was  a  ruse  of  her  rela 
tives  —  a  very  stupid  one  —  to  break  off  the 
affair,  for  I  think  they  had  other  plans. 
But,  dear  me  !  now  I  remember,  was  there 
not  some  little  quarrel  between  you  before? 
Some  letter  from  you  that  was  not  very 
kind?  My  impression  is  that  there  was 
something  of  the  sort,  and  that  the  young 
lady  was  indignant.  But  only  for  a  time, 
you  know.  She  very  soon  forgot  it.  I  dare 
say  if  you  wrote  something  very  charming 
to  her  it  might  not  be  too  late.  We  women 
are  very  forgiving,  Mr.  Demorest,  and  al 
though  she  is  very  much  sought  after,  as  are 
all  young  American  girls  whose  fathers  can 
give  them  a  comfortable  dot,  her  parents 
might  be  persuaded  to  throw  over  a  poor 
prince  for  a  rich  countryman  in  the  end. 


314  THESE  PARTNERS. 

Of  course,  you  know,  to  you  Republicans 
there  is  always  something  fascinating  in 
titles  and  blood,  and  our  dear  friend  is  like 
other  girls.  Still,  it  is  worth  the  risk. 
And  five  years  of  waiting  and  devotion  really 
ought  to  tell.  It 's  quite  a  romance  !  Shall 
I  write  to  her  and  tell  her  I  have  seen  you, 
looking  well  and  prosperous  ?  Nothing  more. 
Do  let  me !  I  should  be  delighted." 

"  I  think  it  hardly  worth  while  for  you  to 
give  yourself  that  trouble,"  said  Demorest 
quietly,  looking  in  Mrs.  Van  Loo's  smiling 
eyes,  "  now  that  I  know  the  story  of  the 
young  lady's  death  was  a  forgery.  And  I 
will  not  intrude  further  on  your  time.  Pray 
give  yourself  no  needless  hurry  over  your 
packing.  I  may  go  to  San  Francisco  this 
afternoon,  and  not  even  require  the  rooms 
to-night." 

"  At  least,  let  me  make  you  a  present  of 
the  souvenir  as  an  acknowledgment  of  your 
courtesy,"  said  Mrs.  Van  Loo,  passing  into 
her  bedroom  and  returning  with  the  photo 
graph.  "  I  feel  that  with  your  five  years  of 
constancy  it  is  more  yours  than  mine."  As 
a  gentleman  Demorest  knew  he  could  not 
refuse,  and  taking  the  photograph  from  her 


THREE  PARTNERS.  315 

with  a  low  bow,  with  another  final  salutation 
he  withdrew. 

Alone  by  himself  in  a  corner  of  the 
veranda  he  was  surprised  that  the  interview 
had  made  so  little  impression  on  him,  and 
had  so  little  altered  his  conviction.  His  dis 
covery  that  the  announcement  of  his  be- 
trothed's  death  was  a  fiction  did  not  affect 
the  fact  that  though  living  she  was  yet  dead 
to  him,  and  apparently  by  her  own  consent. 
The  contrast  between  her  life  and  his  during 
those  five  years  had  been  covertly  accented 
by  Mrs.  Van  Loo,  whether  intentionally  or 
not,  and  he  saw  again  as  last  night  the  full 
extent  of  his  sentimental  folly.  He  could 
not  even  condole  with  himself  that  he  was 
the  victim  of  miserable  falsehoods  that  oth 
ers  had  invented.  She  had  accepted  them, 
and  had  even  excused  her  desertion  of  him 
by  that  last  deceit  of  the  letter. 

He  drew  out  her  photograph  and  again 
examined  it,  but  not  as  a  lover.  Had  she 
really  grown  stouter  and  more  self-compla 
cent  ?  Was  the  spirituality  and  delicacy  he 
had  worshiped  in  her  purely  his  own  idiotic 
fancy  ?  Had  she  always  been  like  this  ? 
Yes.  There  was  the  girl  who  could  weakly 


316  THREE  PAETNEES. 

strive,  weakly  revenge  herself,  and  weakly 
forget.  There  was  the  figure  that  he  had 
expected  to  find  carved  upon  the  tomb  which 
he  had  long  sought  that  he  might  weep  over. 
He  laughed  aloud. 

It  was  very  hot,  and  he  was  stifling  with 
inaction.  What  was  Barker  doing,  and  why 
had  not  Stacy  telegraphed  to  him  ?  And 
what  were  those  people  in  the  courtyard 
doing  ?  Were  they  discussing  news  of  fur 
ther  disaster  and  ruin  ?  Perhaps  he  was 
even  now  a  beggar.  Well,  his  fortune 
might  go  with  his  faith. 

But  the  crowd  was  simply  looking  at  the 
roof  of  the  hotel,  and  he  now  saw  that  a 
black  smoke  was  drifting  across  the  court 
yard,  and  was  conscious  of  a  smell  of  soot 
and  burning.  He  stepped  down  from  the 
veranda  among  the  mingled  guests  and  ser 
vants,  and  saw  that  the  smoke  was  only 
pouring  from  a  chimney.  He  heard,  too, 
that  the  chimney  had  been  on  fire,  and  that 
it  was  Mrs.  Van  Loo's  bedroom  chimney, 
and  that  when  the  startled  servants  had 
knocked  at  the  locked  door  she  had  told  them 
that  she  was  only  burning  some  old  letters 
and  newspapers,  the  refuse  of  her  trunks. 


THESE  PARTNERS.  317 

There  was  naturally  some  indignation  that 
the  hotel  had  been  so  foolishly  endangered, 
in  such  scorching  weather,  and  the  manager 
had  had  a  scene  with  her  which  resulted  in 
her  leaving  the  hotel  indignantly  with  her 
half -packed  boxes.  But  even  after  the  smoke 
had  died  away  and  the  fire  been  extinguished 
in  the  chimney  and  hearth,  there  was  an 
acrid  smell  of  smouldering  pine  penetrating 
the  upper  floors  of  the  hotel  all  that  after 
noon. 

When  Mrs.  Van  Loo  drove  away,  the 
manager  returned  with  Demorest  to  the 
rooms.  The  marble  hearth  was  smoked  and 
discolored  and  still  littered  with  charred 
ashes  of  burnt  paper.  "  My  belief  is,"  said 
the  manager  darkly,  "  that  the  old  hag  came 
here  just  to  burn  up  a  lot  of  incriminating 
papers  that  her  son  had  intrusted  to  her 
keeping.  It  looks  mighty  suspicious.  You 
see  she  got  up  an  awful  lot  of  side  when  I 
told  her  I  did  n't  reckon  to  run  a  smelting 
furnace  in  a  wooden  hotel  with  the  thermo 
meter  at  one  hundred  in  the  office,  and  I 
reckon  it  was  just  an  excuse  for  getting  off 
in  a  hurry." 

But  the  continued  delay  in  Stacy's  pro- 


318  THREE  PARTNERS. 

mised  telegram  had  begun  to  work  upon  De- 
morest's  usual  equanimity,  and  he  scarcely 
listened  in  his  anxiety  for  his  old  partner. 
He  knew  that  Stacy  should  have  arrived  in 
San  Francisco  by  noon.  He  had  almost 
determined  to  take  the  next  train  from  the 
Divide  when  two  horsemen  dashed  into  the 
courtyard.  There  was  the  usual  stir  on 
the  veranda  and  rush  for  news,  but  the  two 
new  arrivals  turned  out  to  be  Barker,  on  a 
horse  covered  with  foam,  and  a  dashing,  ele 
gantly  dressed  stranger  on  a  mustang  as 
carefully  groomed  and  as  spotless  as  him 
self.  Demorest  instantly  recognized  Jack 
Hamlin. 

He  had  not  seen  Hamlin  since  that  day, 
five  years  before,  when  the  latter  had  accom 
panied  the  three  partners  with  their  treasure 
to  Boomville,  and  had  handed  him  the  mys 
terious  packet.  As  the  two  men  dismounted 
hurriedly  and  moved  towards  him,  he  felt  a 
premonition  of  something  as  fateful  and  im 
portant  as  then.  In  obedience  to  a  sign  from 
Barker  he  led  them  to  a  more  secluded  angle 
of  the  veranda.  He  could  not  help  noticing 
that  his  younger  partner's  face  was  mobile 
as  ever,  but  more  thoughtful  and  older  ;  yet 


THREE  PARTNERS.  319 

his  voice  rang  with  the  old  freemasonry  of 
the  camp,  as  he  said,  with  a  laugh,  "  The 
signal  has  been  given,  and  it 's  boot  and 
saddle  and  away." 

"But  I  have  had  no  dispatch  from 
Stacy,"  said  Demorest  in  surprise.  "  He 
was  to  telegraph  to  me  from  San  Francisco 
in  any  emergency." 

"  He  never  got  there  at  all,"  said  Barker. 
"Jack  ran  slap  into  Van  Loo  at  the  Di 
vide,  and  sent  a  dispatch  to  Jim,  which 
stopped  him  halfway  until  Jack  could  reach 
him,  which  he  nearly  broke  his  neck  to  do  ; 
and  then  Jack  finished  up  by  bringing  a 
message  from  Stacy  to  us  that  we  should  all 
meet  together  on  the  slope  of  Heavy  Tree, 
near  the  Bar.  I  met  Jack  just  as  I  was 
riding  into-  the  Divide,  and  came  back  with 
him.  He  will  tell  you  the  rest,  and  you  can 
swear  by  what  Jack  says,  for  he  's  white  all 
through,"  he  added,  laying  his  hand  affec-' 
tionately  on  Hamlin's  shoulder. 

Hamlin  winced  slightly.  For  he  had 
not  told  Barker  that  his  wife  was  with  Van 
Loo,  nor  his  first  reason  for  interfering. 
But  he  related  how  he  had  finally  overtaken 
Van  Loo  at  Canon  Station,  and  how  the  fu- 


320  THESE  PARTNERS. 

gitive  had  disclosed  the  conspiracy  of  Step- 
toe  and  Hall  against  the  bank  and  Marshall 
as  the  price  of  his  own  release.  On  this 
news,  remembering  that  Stacy  had  passed 
the  Divide  on  his  way  to  the  station,  he  had 
first  sent  a  dispatch  to  him,  and  then  met 
him  at  the  first  station  on  the  road.  "  I 
reckon,  gentlemen,"  said  Hamlin,  with  an 
unusual  earnestness  in  his  voice,  "  that  he  'd 
not  only  got  my  telegram,  but  all  the  news 
that  had  been  flying  around  this  morning, 
for  he  looked  like  a  man  to  whom  it  was 
just  a  '  toss-up '  whether  he  took  his  own 
life  then  and  there  or  was  willing  to  have 
somebody  else  take  it  for  him,  for  he  said, 
'  I  '11  go  myself,'  and  telegraphed  to  have 
the  surveyor  stopped  from  coming.  Then 
he  told  me  to  tell  you  fellows,  and  ask  you 
to  come  too."  Jack  paused,  and  added  half 
mischievously,  "  He  sort  of  asked  me  what  I 
would  take  to  stand  by  him  in  the  row,  if 
there  was  one,  and  I  told  him  I  'd  take  — 
whiskey !  You  see,  boys,  it 's  a  kind  of  off- 
night  with  me,  and  I  would  n't  mind  for  the 
sake  of  old  times  to  finish  the  game  with  old 
Steptoe  that  I  began  a  matter  of  five  years 
ago." 


THREE  PAETNEES.  321 

"  All  right,"  said  Demorest,  with  a  kin 
dling  eye  ;  "  I  suppose  we  'd  better  start  at 
once.  One  moment,"  he  added.  "  Barker 
boy,  will  you  excuse  me  if  I  speak  a  word  to 
Hamlin  ?  "  As  Barker  nodded  and  walked 
to  the  rails  of  the  veranda,  Demorest  took 
Hamlin  aside.  "  You  and  I,"  he  said  hur 
riedly,  "  are  single  men  ;  Barker  has  a  wife 
and  child.  This  is  likely  to  be  no  child's 
play." 

But  Jack  Hamlin  was  no  fool,  and  from 
certain  leading  questions  which  Barker  had 
already  put,  but  which  he  had  skillfully 
evaded,  he  surmised  that  Barker  knew  some 
thing  of  his  wife's  escapade.  He  answered 
a  little  more  seriously  than  his  wont,  "  I 
don't  think  as  regards  his  wife  that  would 
make  much  difference  to  him  or  her  how 
stiff  the  work  was." 

Demorest  turned  away  with  his  last  pang 
of  bitterness.  It  needed  only  this  confirma 
tion  of  all  that  Stacy  had  hinted,  of  what 
he  himself  had  seen  in  his  brief  interview 
with  Mrs.  Barker  since  his  return,  to  shake 
his  last  remaining  faith.  "  We  '11  all  go  to 
gether,  then,"  he  said,  with  a  laugh,  "  as  in 
the  old  times,  and  perhaps  it 's  as  well  that 
we  have  no  woman  in  our  confidence." 


322  THESE  PARTNERS. 

An  hour  later  the  three  men  passed 
quietly  out  of  the  hotel,  scarcely  noticed  by 
the  other  guests,  who  were  also  oblivious  of 
their  absence  during  the  evening.  For  Mrs. 
Barker,  quite  recovered  from  her  fatiguing 
ride,  was  in  high  spirits  and  the  most  beau 
tiful  and  spotless  of  summer  gowns,  and 
was  considered  quite  a  heroine  by  the  other 
ladies  as  she  dwelt  upon  the  terrible  heat 
of  her  return  journey.  "  Only  I  knew  Mr. 
Barker  would  be  worried  —  and  the  poor 
man  actually  walked  a  mile  down  the  Di 
vide  road  to  meet  me  —  I  believe  I  should 
have  stayed  there  all  day."  She  glanced 
round  the  other  groups  for  Mrs.  Horncastle, 
but  that  lady  had  retired  early.  Possibly 
she  alone  had  noticed  the  absence  of  the  two 
partners. 

The  guests  sat  up  until  quite  late,  for  the 
heat  seemed  to  grow  still  more  oppressive, 
and  the  strange  smell  of  burning  wood  revived 
the  gossip  about  Mrs.  Van  Loo  and  her  stu 
pidity  in  setting  fire  to  her  chimney.  Some 
averred  that  it  would  be  days  before  the 
smell  could  be  got  out  of  the  house  ;  others 
referred  it  to  the  fires  in  the  woods,  which 
were  now  dangerously  near.  One  spoke  of 


THREE  PAETNEES.  323 

the  isolated  position  of  the  hotel  as  affording 
the  greatest  security,  but  was  met  by  the 
assertion  of  a  famous  mountaineer  that  the 
forest  fires  were  wont  to  leap  from  crest  to 
crest  mysteriously,  without  any  apparent  con 
tinuous  contact.  This  led  to  more  or  less 
light-hearted  conjecture  of  present  danger 
and  some  amusing  stories  of  hotel  fires  and 
their  ludicrous  revelations.  There  were  also 
some  entertaining  speculations  as  to  what 
they  would  do  and  what  they  would  try  to 
save  in  such  an  emergency. 

"  For  myself,"  said  Mrs.  Barker  auda 
ciously,  "  I  should  certainly  let  Mr.  Barker 
look  after  Sta  and  confine  myself  entirely  to 
getting  away  with  my  diamonds.  I  know 
the  wretch  would  never  think  of  them." 

It  was  still  later  when,  exhausted  by  the 
heat  and  some  reaction  from  the  excitement 
of  the  day,  they  at  last  deserted  the  veranda 
for  their  rooms,  and  for  a  while  the  shadowy 
bulk  of  the  whole  building  was  picked  out 
with  regularly  spaced  lights  from  its  open 
windows,  until  now  these  finally  faded  and 
went  out  one  by  one.  An  hour  later  the 
whole  building  had  sunk  to  rest.  It  was 
said  that  it  was  only  four  in  the  morning 


324  THREE  PARTNERS. 

when  a  yawning  porter,  having  put  out  the 
light  in  a  dark,  upper  corridor,  was  amazed 
by  a  dull  glow  from  the  top  of  the  wall,  and 
awoke  to  the  fact  that  a  red  fire,  as  yet 
smokeless  and  flameless,  was  creeping  along 
the  cornice.  He  ran  to  the  office  and  gave 
the  alarm ;  but  on  returning  with  assistance 
was  stopped  in  the  corridor  by  an  impene 
trable  wall  of  smoke  veined  with  murky 
flashes.  The  alarm  was  given  in  all  the 
lower  floors,  and  the  occupants  rushed  from 
their  beds  half  dressed  to  the  courtyard, 
only  to  see,  as  they  afterwards  averred,  the 
flames  burst  like  cannon  discharges  from 
the  upper  windows  and  unite  above  the 
crackling  roof.  So  sudden  and  complete 
was  the  catastrophe,  although  slowly  pre 
pared  by  a  leak  in  the  overheated  chimney 
between  the  floors,  that  even  the  excitement 
of  fear  and  exertion  was  spared  the  surviv 
ors.  There  was  bewilderment  and  stupor, 
but  neither  uproar  nor  confusion.  People 
found  themselves  wandering  in  the  woods, 
half  awake  and  half  dressed,  having  de 
scended  from  the  balconies  and  leaped  from 
the  windows,  —  they  knew  not  how.  Others 
on  the  upper  floor  neither  awoke  nor  moved 


THEEE  PAETNEES.  325 

from  their  beds,  but  were  suffocated  without 
a  cry.  From  the  first  an  instinctive  idea  of 
the  hopelessness  of  combating  the  conflagra 
tion  possessed  them  all ;  to  a  blind,  automatic 
feeling  to  flee  the  building  was  added  the 
slow  mechanism  of  the  somnambulist ;  deli 
cate  women  walked  speechlessly,  but  securely, 
along  ledges  and  roofs  from  which  they 
would  have  fallen  by  the  mere  light  of  rea 
son  and  of  day.  There  was  no  crowding  or 
impeding  haste  in  their  dumb  exodus.  It 
was  only  when  Mrs.  Barker  awoke  dishev 
eled  in  the  courtyard,  and  with  an  hysterical 
outcry  rushed  back  into  the  hotel,  that  there 
was  any  sign  of  panic. 

Mrs.  Horncastle,  who  was  standing  near, 
fully  dressed  as  from  some  night-long  vigil, 
quickly  followed  her.  The  half-frantic  wo 
man  was  making  directly  for  her  own  apart 
ments,  whose  windows  those  in  the  courtyard 
could  see  were  already  belching  smoke.  Sud 
denly  Mrs.  Horncastle  stopped  with  a  bitter 
cry  and  clasped  her  forehead.  It  had  just 
flashed  upon  her  that  Mrs.  Barker  had  told 
her  only  a  few  hours  before  that  Sta  had 
been  removed  with  the  nurse  to  the  upper 
floor  !  It  was  not  the  forgotten  child  that 


326  THREE  PARTNERS. 

Mrs.  Barker  was  returning  for,  but  her  dia 
monds  !  Mrs.  Horncastle  called  her ;  she 
did  not  reply.  The  smoke  was  already  pour 
ing  down  the  staircase.  Mrs.  Horncastle 
hesitated  for  a  moment  only,  and  then, 
drawing  a  long  breath,  dashed  up  the  stairs. 
On  the  first  landing  she  stumbled  over  some 
thing  —  the  prostrate  figure  of  the  nurse. 
But  this  saved  her,  for  she  found  that  near 
the  floor  she  could  breathe  more  freely. 
Before  her  appeared  to  be  an  open  door. 
She  crept  along  towards  it  on  her  hands 
and  knees.  The  frightened  cry  of  a  child, 
awakened  from  its  sleep  in  the  dark,  gave 
her  nerve  to  rise,  enter  the  room,  and  dash 
open  the  window.  By  the  flashing  light  she 
could  see  a  little  figure  rising  from  a  bed. 
It  was  Sta.  There  was  not  a  moment  to 
be  lost,  for  the  open  window  was  beginning 
to  draw  the  smoke  from  the  passage.  Luck 
ily,  the  boy,  by  some  childish  instinct,  threw 
his  arms  round  her  neck  and  left  her  hands 
free.  Whispering  him  to  hold  tight,  she 
clambered  out  of  the  window.  A  narrow 
ledge  of  cornice  scarcely  wide  enough  for 
her  feet  ran  along  the  house  to  a  distant 
balcony.  With  her  back  to  the  house  she 


THREE  PARTNERS.  327 

zigzagged  her  feet  along  the  cornice  to  get 
away  from  the  smoke,  which  now  poured 
directly  from  the  window.  Then  she  grew 
dizzy  ;  the  weight  of  the  child  on  her  bosom 
seemed  to  be  toppling  her  forward  towards 
the  abyss  below.  She  closed  her  eyes,  fran 
tically  grasping  the  child  with  crossed  arms 
on  her  breast  as  she  stood  on  the  ledge, 
until,  as  seen  from  below  through  the  twist 
ing  smoke,  they  might  have  seemed  a  figure 
of  the  Madonna  and  Child  niched  in  the 
wall.  Then  a  voice  from  above  called  to 
her,  "  Courage  !  "  and  she  felt  the  flap  of  a 
twisted  sheet  lowered  from  an  upper  window 
against  her  face.  She  grasped  it  eagerly; 
it  held  firmly.  Then  she  heard  a  cry  from 
below,  saw  them  carrying  a  ladder,  and  at 
last  was  lifted  with  her  burden  from  the 
ledge  by  powerful  hands.  Then  only  did 
she  raise  her  eyes  to  the  upper  window 
whence  had  come  her  help.  Smoke  and 
flame  were  pouring  from  it.  The  unknown 
hero  who  had  sacrificed  his  only  chance  of 
escape  to  her  remained  forever  unknown. 

Only  four  miles  away  that  night  a  group 
of  men  were  waiting  for  the  dawn  in  the 


328  THREE  PARTNERS. 

shadow  of  a  pine  near  Heavy  Tree  Bar. 
As  the  sky  glowed  redly  over  the  crest  be 
tween  them  and  Hymettus,  Hamlin  said  :  — 

"  Another  one  of  those  forest  fires.  It 's 
this  side  of  Black  Spur,  and  a  big  one,  I 
reckon." 

"Do  you  know,"  said  Barker  thought 
fully,  "  I  was  thinking  of  the  time  the  old 
cabin  burnt  up  on  Heavy  Tree.  It  looks  to 
be  about  in  the  same  place." 

"  Hush  !  "  said  Stacy  sharply. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

AN  abandoned  tunnel  —  an  irregular  ori 
fice  in  the  mountain  flank  which  looked  like 
a  dried-up  sewer  that  had  disgorged  through 
its  opening  the  refuse  of  the  mountain  in 
red  slime,  gravel,  and  a  peculiar  clay  known 
as  "  cement,"  in  a  foul  streak  down  its  side  ; 
a  narrow  ledge  on  either  side,  broken  up  by 
heaps  of  quartz,  tailings,  and  rock,  and  half 
hidden  in  scrub,  oak,  and  myrtle  ;  a  decay 
ing  cabin  of  logs,  bark,  and  cobblestones  — 
these  made  up  the  exterior  of  the  Marshall 
claim.  To  this  defacement  of  the  moun 
tain,  the  rude  clearing  of  thicket  and  under 
brush  by  fire  or  blasting,  the  lopping  of 
tree-boughs  and  the  decapitation  of  saplings, 
might  be  added  the  debris  and  ruins  of  half- 
civilized  occupancy.  The  ground  before  the 
cabin  was  covered  with  broken  boxes,  tin 
cans,  the  staves  and  broken  hoops  of  casks, 
and  the  cast-off  rags  of  blankets  and  cloth 
ing.  The  whole  claim  in  its  unsavory,  un- 


330  THREE  PARTNERS. 

picturesque  details,  and  its  vulgar  story  of 
sordid,  reckless,  and  selfish  occupancy  and 
abandonment,  was  a  foul  blot  on  the  land 
scape,  which  the  first  rosy  dawn  only  made 
the  more  offending.  Surely  the  last  spot 
in  the  world  that  men  should  quarrel  and 
fight  for  ! 

So  thought  George  Barker,  as  with  his 
companions  they  moved  in  single  file  slowly 
towards  it.  The  little  party  consisted  only 
of  himself,  Demorest,  and  Stacy  ;  Marshall 
and  Hamlin  —  according  to  a  prearranged 
plan  —  were  still  in  ambush  to  join  them 
at  the  first  appearance  of  Steptoe  and  his 
gang.  The  claim  was  yet  unoccupied  ;  they 
had  secured  their  first  success.  Steptoe's 
followers,  unaware  that  his  design  had  been 
discovered,  and  confident  that  they  could 
easily  reach  the  claim  before  Marshall  and 
the  surveyor,  had  lingered.  Some  of  them 
had  held  a  drunken  carouse  at  their  rendez 
vous  at  Heavy  Tree.  Others  were  still  en 
gaged  in  procuring  shovels  and  picks  and 
pans  for  their  mock  equipment  as  miners, 
and  this,  again,  gave  Marshall's  adherents, 
the  advantage.  They  knew  that  their  op 
ponents  would  probably  first  approach  the 


THEEE  PARTNERS.  331 

empty  claim  encumbered  only  with  their 
peaceful  implements,  while  they  themselves 
had  brought  their  rifles  with  them. 

Stacy,  who  by  tacit  consent  led  the 
party,  on  reaching  the  claim  at  once  posted 
Demorest  and  Barker  each  behind  a  sepa 
rate  heap  of  quartz  tailings  on  the  ledge, 
which  afforded  them  a  capital  breastwork, 
and  stationed  himself  at  the  mouth  of  the 
tunnel  which  was  nearest  the  trail.  It  had 
already  been  arranged  what  each  man  was 
to  do.  They  were  in  possession.  For  the 
rest  they  must  wait.  What  they  thought 
at  that  moment  no  one  knew.  Their  char 
acteristic  appearance  had  slightly  changed. 
The  melancholy  and  philosophic  Demorest 
was  alert  and  bitter.  Barker's  changeful 
face  had  become  fixed  and  steadfast.  Stacy 
alone  wore  his  "  fighting  look,"  which  the 
others  had  remembered. 

They  had  not  long  to  wait.  The  sounds 
of  rude  laughter,  coarse  skylarking,  and 
voices  more  or  less  still  confused  with  half- 
spent  liquor  came  from  the  rocky  trail. 
And  then  Steptoe  appeared  with  part  of  his 
straggling  followers,  who  were  celebrating 
their  easy  invasion  by  clattering  their  picks 


332  THREE  PARTNERS. 

and  shovels  and  beating  loudly  upon  their 
tins  and  prospecting-pans.  The  three  part 
ners  quickly  recognized  the  stamp  of  the 
strangers,  in  spite  of  their  peaceful  imple 
ments.  They  were  the  waifs  and  strays  of 
San  Francisco  wharves,  of  Sacramento  dens, 
of  dissolute  mountain  towns  ;  and  there  was 
not,  probably,  a  single  actual  miner  among 
them.  A  raging  scorn  and  contempt  took 
possession  of  Barker  and  Demorest,  but 
Stacy  knew  their  exact  value.  As  Steptoe 
passed  before  the  opening  of  the  tunnel  he 
heard  the  cry  of  "  Halt !  " 

He  looked  up.  He  saw  Stacy  not  thirty 
yards  before  him  with  his  rifle  at  half-cock. 
He  saw  Barker  and  Demorest,  fully  armed, 
rise  from  behind  their  breastworks  of  rock 
along  the  ledge  and  thus  fully  occupy  the 
claim.  But  he  saw  more.  He  saw  that  his 
plot  was  known.  Outlaw  and  desperado  as 
he  was,  he  saw  that  he  had  lost  his  moral 
power  in  this  actual  possession,  and  that 
from  that  moment  he  must  be  the  aggressor. 
He  saw  he  was  fighting  no  irresponsible 
hirelings  like  his  own,  but  men  of  position 
and  importance,  whose  loss  would  make  a 
stir.  Against  their  rifles  the  few  revolvers 


' 


THREE  PARTNERS.  333 

that  his  men  chanced  to  have  slung  to  them 
were  of  little  avail.  But  he  was  not  cowed, 
although  his  few  followers  stumbled  together 
at  this  momentary  check,  half  angrily,  half 
timorously  like  wolves  without  a  leader. 
"  Bring  up  the  other  men  and  their  guns," 
he  whispered  fiercely  to  the  nearest.  Then 
he  faced  Stacy. 

"  Who  are  you  to  stop  peaceful  miners 
going  to  work  on  their  own  claim  ?  "  he  said 
coarsely.  "  I  '11  tell  you  who,  boys,"  he 
added,  suddenly  turning  to  his  men  with  a 
hoarse  laugh.  "  It  ain't  even  the  bank ! 
It 's  only  Jim  Stacy,  that  the  bank  kicked 
out  yesterday  to  save  itself,  —  Jim  Stacy 
and  his  broken-down  pals.  And  what 's  the 
thief  doing  here  —  in  Marshall's  tunnel  — 
the  only  spot  that  Marshall  can  claim  ?  We 
ain't  no  particular  friends  o'  Marshall's, 
though  we  're  neighbors  on  the  same  claim  ; 
but  we  ain't  going  to  see  Marshall  ousted  by 
tramps.  Are  we,  boys  ?  " 

"  No,  by  G — d !  "  said  his  followers,  drop 
ping  the  pans  and  seizing  their  picks  arid 
revolvers.  They  understood  the  appeal  to 
arms  if  not  to  their  reason.  For  an  instant 
the  fight  seemed  imminent.  Then  a  voice 
from  behind  them  said :  — 


334  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  You  need  n't  trouble  yourselves  about 
that !  /'m  Marshall !  I  sent  these  gentle 
men  to  occupy  the  claim  until  I  came  here 
with  the  surveyor,"  and  two  men  stepped 
from  a  thicket  of  myrtle  in  the  rear  of  Step- 
toe  and  his  followers.  The  speaker,  Mar 
shall,  was  a  thin,  slight,  overworked,  over- 
aged  man  ;  his  companion,  the  surveyor,  was 
equally  slight,  but  red-bearded,  spectacled, 
and  professional-looking,  with  a  long  trav 
eling-duster  that  made  him  appear  even 
clerical.  They  were  scarcely  a  physical 
addition  to  Stacy's  party,  whatever  might 
have  been  their  moral  and  legal  support. 

But  it  was  just  this  support  that  Steptoe 
strangely  clung  to  in  his  designs  for  the 
future,  and  a  wild  idea  seized  him.  The 
surveyor  was  really  the  only  disinterested 
witness  between  the  two  parties.  If  Step- 
toe  could  confuse  his  mind  before  the  actual 
fighting  —  from  which  he  would,  of  course, 
escape  as  a  non-combatant  —  it  would  go 
far  afterwards  to  rehabilitate  Steptoe' s  party. 
"  Very  well,  then,"  he  said  to  Marshall,  "  I 
shall  call  this  gentleman  to  witness  that  we 
have  been  attacked  here  in  peaceable  pos 
session  of  our  part  of  the  claim  by  these 


THREE  PARTNERS.  335 

armed  strangers,  and  whether  they  are  act 
ing  on  your  order  or  not,  their  blood  will  be 
on  your  head." 

"  Then  I  reckon,"  said  the  surveyor,  as 
he  tore  away  his  beard,  wig,  spectacles,  and 
mustache,  and  revealed  the  figure  of  Jack 
Hamlin,  "  that  I  'm  about  the  last  witness 
that  Mr.  Steptoe-Horncastle  ought  to  call, 
and  about  the  last  witness  that  he  ever  will 
call!" 

But  he  had  not  calculated  upon  the  des 
peration  of  Steptoe  over  the  failure  of  this 
last  hope.  For  there  sprang  up  in  the  out 
law's  brain  the  same  hideous  idea  that  he 
voiced  to  his  companions  at  the  Divide. 
With  a  hoarse  cry  to  his  followers,  he  crashed 
his  pickaxe  into  the  brain  of  Marshall,  who 
stood  near  him,  and  sprang  forward.  Three 
or  four  shots  were  exchanged.  Two  of  his 
men  fell,  a  bullet  from  Stacy's  rifle  pierced 
Steptoe's  leg,  and  he  dropped  forward  on  one 
knee.  He  heard  the  steps  of  his  reinforce 
ments  with  their  weapons  coming  close  behind 
him,  and  rolled  aside  on  the  sloping  ledge  to 
let  them  pass.  But  he  rolled  too  far.  He 
felt  himself  slipping  down  the  mountain-side 
in  the  slimy  shoot  of  the  tunnel.  He  made  a 


336  THESE  PAETNEES. 

desperate  attempt  to  recover  himself,  but  the 
treacherous  drift  of  the  loose  debris  rolled 
with  him,  as  if  he  were  part  of  its  refuse, 
and,  carrying  him  down,  left  him  uncon 
scious,  but  otherwise  uninjured,  in  the  bushes 
of  the  second  ledge  five  hundred  feet  below. 

When  he  recovered  his  senses  the  shouts 
and  outcries  above  him  had  ceased.  He 
knew  he  was  safe.  The  ledge  could  only  be 
reached  by  a  circuitous  route  three  miles 
away.  He  knew,  too,  that  if  he  could  only 
reach  a  point  of  outcrop  a  hundred  yards 
away  he  could  easily  descend  to  the  stage 
road,  down  the  gentle  slope  of  the  mountain 
hidden  in  a  growth  of  hazel-brush.  He 
bound  up  his  wounded  leg,  and  dragged  him 
self  on  his  hands  and  knees  laboriously  to 
the  outcrop.  He  did  not  look  up  ;  since  his 
pick  had  crashed  into  Marshall's  brain  he 
had  but  one  blind  thought  before  him  —  to 
escape  at  once  !  That  his  revenge  and  com 
pensation  would  come  later  he  never  doubted. 
He  limped  and  crept,  rolled  and  fell,  from 
bush  to  bush  through  the  sloping  thickets, 
until  he  saw  the  red  road  a  few  feet  below 
him. 

If  he  only  had  a  horse  he  could  put  miles 


THREE  PARTNERS.  837 

between  him  and  any  present  pursuit ! 
Why  should  he  not  have  one  ?  The  road 
was  frequented  by  solitary  horsemen  — 
miners  and  Mexicans.  He  had  his  revolver 
with  him ;  what  mattered  the  life  of  another 
man  if  he  escaped  from  the  consequences  of 
the  one  he  had  just  taken  ?  He  heard  the 
clatter  of  hoofs ;  two  priests  on  mules  rode 
slowly  by ;  he  ground  his  teeth  with  disap 
pointment.  But  they  had  scarcely  passed 
before  another  and  more  rapid  clatter  came 
from  their  rear.  It  was  a  lad  on  horseback. 
He  started.  It  was  his  own  son ! 

He  remembered  in  a  flash  how  the  boy 
had  said  he  was  coming  to  meet  the  padre 
at  the  station  on  that  day.  His  first  im 
pulse  was  to  hide  himself,  his  wound,  and 
his  defeat  from  the  lad,  but  the  blind  idea 
of  escape  was  still  paramount.  He  leaned 
over  the  bank  and  called  to  him.  The  as 
tonished  lad  cantered  eagerly  to  his  side.  - 

"  Give  me  your  horse,  Eddy,"  said  the 
father  ;  "  I  'm  in  bad  luck,  and  must  get." 

The  boy  glanced  at  his  father's  face,  at 
his  tattered  garments  and  bandaged  leg, 
and  read  the  whole  story.  It  was  a  familiar 
page  to  him.  He  paled  first  and  then  flushed, 


338  THREE  PARTNERS. 

and  then,  with  an  odd  glitter  in  his  eyes, 
said,  "  Take  me  with  you,  father.  Do ! 
You  always  did  before.  I  '11  bring  you 
luck." 

Desperation  is  superstitious.  Why  not 
take  him  ?  They  had  been  lucky  before, 
and  the  two  together  might  confound  any 
description  of  their  identity  to  the  pursuers. 
"  Help  me  up,  Eddy,  and  then  get  up  before 
me." 

"  Behind,  you  mean,"  said  the  boy,  with 
a  laugh,  as  he  helped  his  father  into  the 
saddle. 

"  No,"  said  Steptoe  harshly.  "  Before 
me,  —  do  you  hear  ?  And  if  anything  hap 
pens  behind  you,  don't  look !  If  I  drop  off, 
don't  stop!  Don't  get  down,  but  go  on 
and  leave  me.  Do  you  understand  ?  "  he 
repeated  almost  savagely. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy  tremulously. 

"  All  right,"  said  the  father,  with  a  softer 
voice,  as  he  passed  his  one  arm  round  the 
boy's  body  and  lifted  the  reins.  "Hold 
tight  when  we  come  to  the  cross-roads,  for 
we  '11  take  the  first  turn,  for  old  luck's  sake, 
to  the  Mission." 

They  were  the  last  words  exchanged  be- 


THREE  PARTNERS.  339 

tween  them,  for  as  they  wheeled  rapidly  to 
the  left  at  the  cross-roads,  Jack  Hamlin  and 
Demorest  swung  as  quickly  out  of  another 
road  to  the  right  immediately  behind  them. 
Jack's  challenge  to  "  Halt !  "  was  only  an 
swered  by  Steptoe's  horse  springing  forward 
under  the  sharp  lash  of  the  riata. 

"  Hold  up !  "  said  Jack  suddenly,  laying 
his  hand  upon  the  rifle  which  Demorest  had 
lifted  to  his  shoulder.  "  He 's  carrying 
some  one,  —  a  wounded  comrade,  I  reckon. 
We  don't  want  him.  Swing  out  and  go  for 
the  horse ;  well  forward,  in  the  neck  or 
shoulder." 

Demorest  swung  far  out  to  the  right  of 
the  road  and  raised  his  rifle.  As  it  cracked 
Steptoe's  horse  seemed  to  have  suddenly 
struck  some  obstacle  ahead  of  him  rather 
than  to  have  been  hit  himself,  for  his  head 
went  down  with  his  fore  feet  under  him,  and 
he  turned  a  half -somersault  on  the  road, 
flinging  his  two  riders  a  dozen  feet  away. 

Steptoe  scrambled  to  his  knees,  revolver 
in  hand,  but  the  other  figure  never  moved. 
"  Hands  up !  "  said  Jack,  sighting  his  own 
weapon.  The  reports  seemed  simultaneous, 
but  Jack's  bullet  had  pierced  Steptoe's  brain 


340  THREE  PARTNERS. 

even  before  the  outlaw's  pistol  exploded 
harmlessly  in  the  air. 

The  two  men  dismounted,  but  by  a  com 
mon  instinct  they  both  ran  to  the  prostrate 
figure  that  had  never  moved. 

"  By  God  !  it 's  a  boy !  "  said  Jack,  lean 
ing  over  the  body  and  lifting  the  shoulders 
from  which  the  head  hung  loosely.  "  Neck 
broken  and  dead  as  his  pal."  Suddenly  he 
started,  and,  to  Demorest's  astonishment, 
began  hurriedly  pulling  off  the  glove  from 
the  boy's  limp  right  hand. 

"  What  are  you  doing  ?  "  demanded  De- 
morest  in  creeping  horror. 

"  Look  !  "  said  Jack,  as  he  laid  bare  the 
small  white  hand.  The  first  two  fingers 
were  merely  unsightly  stumps  that  had  been 
hidden  in  the  padded  glove. 

"  Good  God  !  Van  Loo's  brother !  "  said 
Demorest,  recoiling. 

"  No !  "  said  Jack,  with  a  grim  face,  "  it 's 
what  I  have  long  suspected,  —  it 's  Steptoe's 
son ! " 

"  His  son  ?  "  repeated  Demorest. 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack ;  and  he  added,  after 
looking  at  the  two  bodies  with  a  long-drawn 
whistle  of  concern,  "  and  I  would  n't,  if  I 
were  you,  say  anything  of  this  to  Barker." 


THREE  PAETNEES.  341 

"  Why?  "  said  Demorest. 

"  Well,"  returned  Jack,  "  when  our 
scrimmage  was  over  down  there,  and  they 
brought  the  news  to  Barker  that  his  wife 
and  her  diamonds  were  burnt  up  at  the 
hotel,  you  remember  that  they  said  that 
Mrs.  Horncastle  had  saved  his  boy." 

"  Yes,"  said  Demorest ;  "  but  what  has 
that  to  do  with  it  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  I  reckon,"  said  Jack,  with  a 
slight  shrug  of  his  shoulders,  "  only  Mrs. 
Horncastle  was  the  mother  of  the  boy  that 's 
lying  there." 

Two  years  later  as  Demorest  and  Stacy 
sat  before  the  fire  in  the  old  cabin  on  Mar 
shall's  claim  —  now  legally  their  own  — 
they  looked  from  the  door  beyond  the  great 
bulk  of  Black  Spur  to  the  pallid  snow-line 
of  the  Sierras,  still  as  remote  and  unchanged 
to  them  as  when  they  had  gazed  upon  it 
from  Heavy  Tree  Hill.  And,  for  the  mat 
ter  of  that,  they  themselves  seemed  to  have 
been  left  so  unchanged  that  even  now,  as 
in  the  old  days,  it  was  Barker's  voice  as  he 
greeted  them  from  the  darkening  trail  that 
alone  broke  their  reverie. 


342  THREE  PARTNERS. 

"  Well,"  said  Demorest  cheerfully,  "  your 
usual  luck,  Barker  boy ! "  for  they  already 
saw  in  his  face  the  happy  light  they  had 
once  seen  there  on  an  eventful  night  seven 
years  ago. 

"  I  'm  to  be  married  to  Mrs.  Horncastle 
next  month,"  he  said  breathlessly,  "  and 
little  Sta  loves  her  already  as  if  she  was 
his  own  mother.  Wish  me  joy." 

A  slight  shadow  passed  over  Stacy's  face ; 
but  his  hand  was  the  first  to  grasp  Barker's, 
and  his  voice  the  first  to  say  "  Amen !  " 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


*»  I    S67 


Form  L9-50m-7,'54(5990)444 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


